Community partners came together in a big way on Monday to celebrate a ribbon-cutting event for the new Community Resource Centre and men’s shelter that recently opened its doors to support some of Sault Ste. Marie’s most vulnerable.
The former elementary school building at 721 Wellington St. E. was completely retrofitted over the past two years to include a multi-agency Community Resource Centre (CRC) on the first floor, a 22-bed low-barrier men’s shelter on the second floor and 22 transitional housing units on the second and third floors.
SooToday was given an exclusive first look at the revamped building last month.
”This Community Resource Centre shows municipal leadership in building a space where all other service provides from all levels of government, and even the grass roots, can populate a space to serve our shared community members,” said councillor Luke Dufour, who chairs the Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB).
The crowd gathered outside the CRC for the announcement included people representing a cross-section of local services that support people living with mental health and addictions challenges in the community and other community leaders.
The community partner agencies that signed on to provide services at the centre include a physician-led clinic, Ontario Works, Women in Crisis, Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services and Algoma Family Services, among others. It also includes participation by local grassroots organizations, like SOYA.
Dufour told the crowd of about 100 people outside the building on Monday that part of the nature of homelessness in the city is the high acuity of health care needs among that segment of the population, and the more health care services that can be offered to them, the better the outcomes will be.
“Health care and housing aren’t just linked, but they are completely intertwined, yet the levels of government and the departments we have to address these issues are not quite so intertwined,” said Dufour.
The centre is one of the first in the province to include a purpose-built physician-led clinic attached to a men’s shelter, said Dufour.
Like he did at the former Neighbourhood Resource Centre on Gore Street, Dr. Al McLean will provide health care services at the Community Resource Centre.
McLean called the centre a good beginning and told the crowd it will be beneficial for the people who use it to have access to a host of services from a number of agencies under one roof.
“All of the organizations that are involved with these folks can talk to each other and make sure people aren’t falling through the cracks,” he said.
McLean said the physician-led clinic at the CRC will see more than just patients living with homelessness and addiction.
"They are people who have very difficult times accessing primary care or care in general anywhere,” he said of the patients. “We would like to find ways to do even more, broaden who we serve and how often we serve them.”
At the time the project was announced, Sault Ste. Marie had a total of nine shelter beds for men at St. Vincent Place. A temporary facility at the Verdi Hall increased that number to 35 total and this new facility further increases the number to 44, plus an additional eight off-site beds opened in another facility earlier this year.
The CRC will be operated by Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Algoma, which will have peer workers on site Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In turn, the shelter portion of the building will be closed during those daytime hours.
MPP Ross Romano told SooToday the opening of the centre, as well as the recent opening of other services like the Northway Wellness Centre and Live-In Treatment Program for youth, are a positive step forward.
“It’s one thing to make an announcement, it’s another to get to the stage of opening and seeing the community actually benefit from the investments and be able to actually access those resources — these are resources we all agree are long overdue, but it’s great we are here and I think we are turning that corner,” said Romano.
In his remarks to the crowd, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said the CRC project is a great example of what can happen when people work together.
“Homelessness does not only impact the person dealing directly with it, it has a ripple effect felt among many of the community organizations that are represented here today,” said Shoemaker. “I am confident that this Community Resource Centre will make a major difference in our capacity and capability to provide help for those who need it and I am thrilled to see it officially open today.”