London pitches province on new homeless and addiction treatment hub

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A London mental health organization hopes to bring a homelessness and recovery hub to the city, part of Ontario’s new treatment-focused approach to drug addiction. 

The Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services is submitting a proposal to the provincial government by an Oct. 18 deadline to establish a homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hub in London.  

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“Our experience in supportive housing, mental health and addiction services uniquely positions us to lead this initiative,” chief executive Pam Tobin said in a news release Friday.  

“We are ready and well-suited to expand our support to the community through the HART Hub.”  

The exact location of the proposed hub in the city was not disclosed.  

CMHA Thames Valley said it will work with its partners and the city of London to “establish the criteria for the HART Hub” and ensure it “effectively meets the unique needs of London residents.” 

The proposed hub would create a “comprehensive system to house and support the most vulnerable members of the community.” 

Funding for the hub would come from the province, city hall and a fund for an ambitious London community project, called the Whole of Community System Response, to help the homeless through a network of service and shelter hubs. A unique approach to homelessness in Canada, the London effort was seeded by an anonymous $25-million donation.

Months ago, the provincial government announced $378 million in funding for 19 homeless and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs. Those hubs, different than supervised drug consumption sites, will offer primary care, mental health and addiction help, social services, beds and supportive housing.

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In a statement Friday, Mayor Josh Morgan applauded the move by CMHA Thames Valley and said city hall will work with the group to get the HART hub plan off the ground.  

“This is the first formal step in a process, outlined last month by the Ontario government, to fund desperately needed direct access to a broad range of treatment and recovery services,” Morgan said.  

Morgan said he’s “extremely confident” the application to the province will be well received, given London’s coordinated action on homelessness and addiction services in recent years.  

“Both the premier and minister of health have separately singled out and praised London for our approach to health and homelessness, highlighting it as a template for the Ontario government’s HART hub system,” Morgan said in a statement. 

“Since the Whole of Community System Response was first developed less than two years ago, we have successfully launched two hubs while also approving 143 new highly supportive housing units. 

The proposed hub comes nearly a year after CMHA Thames Valley decided to scrap a proposed homeless hub for at-risk women in a north London motel. 

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The hub at the Lighthouse Inn was to be one of the first three opening under London’s health and homelessness system, aiming to help about 600 of the most vulnerable residents living unsheltered and with complex medical needs. 

Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government is shifting its focus in dealing with drug addiction from harm-reduction to treatment and recovery, with plans to close 10 sites in Ontario – half of them in Toronto – where users can consume illegal drugs under medical supervision. That move came following a review of the sites after a mother of two was struck and killed by a stray bullet near one of the Toronto sites more than a year ago, training a harsh spotlight on safety and the proximity of such sites to public places such as schools.

The London drug consumption site on York Street is not among those slated to be closed.

jbieman@postmedia.com
@JenatLFPress

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