2023 Belleville Homelessness Summit targets feedback survey results

As part of the City of Belleville’s Homelessness Summit, members of the public were invited to provide their feedback on the draft aims of Belleville’s four-year Community Homelessness Action Plan vision. Here are the results of the Homelessness Summit Aims Feedback Survey:

1. Please rank/prioritize the aims in terms of priority for the community (1 being most important/highest priority and 7 being least important/lowest priority).

• Highest priority: Expanded transitional housing units and housing allowances to support housing affordability.
• Lowest priority: Confirming and sustaining a reliable By-Name List.

2. What do these aims address about the homelessness needs that exist locally?

• Quality by-name list – demographics of the list identify priority/target populations.
• Should Increase access to list to have more agencies referring.
• By-name list and coordinated access are key to addressing the gaps and needs in the community and obtaining reliable data. This drives system change to better serve vulnerable communities identified in the list.
• Homelessness people who haven’t consented to be on the by-name list. Also educates people about the homelessness issue and informs people about successes.
• Baseline/trend data, increases transitional housing stock/inventory.
• Ability to track trend reliable data, offers opportunities to free emergency shelter with transition and minimizes recidivism.
• Inter-professional and inter-organizations teams, and supportive housing.
• People living with mental illness getting proper mental health care rather then cycling around the justice system consistently because the root problem of mental health was never addressed.
• Nothing. Hastings County and the homelessness prevention groups have been keeping these numbers yearly since 2011. The Municipalities have already had over 10 years to come up with a solution and prepare and do something about it!
• What we need is actual housing built!! All this does is keep the status quo and offers no real solutions.
• Complete a housing/homelessness resource needs-gap analysis, this will reduce knee jerk reactions and wasted money.
• The is a chronic shortage of affordable housing locally. Agencies work in silos and citizens do not know what supports are out there when needed. In all honesty the lady that spoke to her experience may have been eligible for help before she was in the eviction process. She may have been able to get one month emergency assistance and one time discretionary funding towards the rent arrears to maintain the home. She likely did not know this. Also other supports may have been there for her family.
• Fast action, as the homeless in Belleville are creating other issues in the community.

3. What do these aims not address about the homelessness needs that exist locally?

• Need for more supportive housing – mobile and inter-professional core teams.
• Other populations, prevention projects/retention piece, veterans not a priority group.
• Families, Loyalist College students, new immigrants, air base.
• Prevention/inflow, well resources network of community service providers in the WFP.
• Does not prioritize prevention, success is contingent upon permanent/affordable housing development.
• Indigenous and First Nations Peoples, humanizing and reducing the stigma/myth busting based on data, using evidence and defining what type of housing would make the biggest difference.
• Stigma (shifting the narrative of the community to allow people to feel heard, seen and taken seriously), does not include supportive permanent housing.
• Welfare rate and ODSP rate not keeping up with rate of housing and cost of living.
• 2027 seems too far out – shorter goals to measure could be by end of year, by end of next year and so on.
• What level of financial commitment is being put forward by all levels of government.
• They need somewhere to pitch their tent so that police and help can be near by, many cities do this so the can keep track of them but also allow them to have an area to stay with resources close by.
• We need more dedicated social housing built! Yes., actual buildings. The private sector is not going to fix this.
• Complete a housing/homelessness resource needs-gap analysis, this will reduce knee jerk reactions and wasted money.
• The by name list – this stat is too hard to pin down.
• Drug addiction, affordable housing and housing availability, living wages.
• Lack of housing & affordable housing, lack of mental health resources & addiction resources, lack of larger places like grace inn, need more meals provided for homeless, lack of place for them to stay or set up tents etc without being kicked out, lack of place to stay 24hrs, lack of warning centres that open 24hrs or at least longer than current & that open anytime it’s zero or below.

4. What aims should or could be added to make a measurable reduction in homelessness locally within the next 4 years?

• Prevention and community education to reduce stigma and NIMBYism.
• Prioritizing prevention, keeping people who are housing housed to slow down the inflow.
• Properly resource the not-for-profit sector to effectively prioritize the services to BNL individuals.
• Engaging business and community at large in being proactive vs. defensive and embracing our fellow citizens.
• Rate of movement from temporary housing to permanent.
• Staff hired for supportive housing, housing sustainability and housing retention.
• A structured financial commitment from all levels of government. Quinte health care has failed our community in regards to mental health care when they should of been the main hub to proper health care as opposed to our local police department. Properly trained staff to deal with mental health episodes without putting the responsibility back on our local police would be beneficial to those suffering.
• Having a plan in motion and running. Homelessness has been a growing issue and now its hit its peak for the city to see it as a problem all while they were closing down programs that were helping the homeless.
• We need a larger homeless shelter.
• As part of this puzzle and part of the needs-gap analysis, review the potential impact on local housing the Collage system has in the area by any increase of their student population.
• Should the College be required to provide a percentage of dedicated housing to help house their students, reducing the stress on the local rental market? (is it possible the economic benefit of a local college is now being reduced or lost lost by their need for increased student rental units?)
• Rent subsidy for low income earners.
• Affordable housing and paid addiction facilities

5. What can your organization do to support these aims and reduce homelessness?

• Belleville Quinte West Community Health Centre – care teams for supportive housing, maintain/sustain housing (but need resources to do this).
• Community Advocacy and Legal Centre – sheriffs department eviction tribunals/landlords
• Resource the NFP partners and engage all community stakeholders.
• Quinte Health – integrate into team and inter-professional primary care/mental team.
• Join in discussion.
• New zoning by-law to remove “people-zoning”, need technical working group with staffing from County and local municipalities.
• Remain call entry point.