The Bridge Integrated Care Hub in Belleville

The Bridge Integrated Care Hub (or “The Bridge”) is a low-barrier, collaborative, care hub designed to provide essential supports, social services and primary health care to individuals experiencing homelessness and addiction in one centralized location.

• Low-barrier – removing unnecessary obstacles or requirements to use the services
• Collaborative – funded and operated by various local non-profits and levels of government
• Care hub – centralized service location providing the necessary resources to stabilize housing, enhance integration and social inclusion

It is temporarily located at 125 Church St until construction on the permanent location at 1 Alhambra Square is completed. It is expected to be fully operational in February 2026 and will be open 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

It will provide a wide range of essential services all in one place, including:

• Safety
• Three meals per day
• Washrooms
• Showers
• Laundry
• Drop-in area
• Personal item storage
• Rest area
• Warming center
• Community development programs
• Primary health care
• Mental health services
• Addiction medicine
• Naloxone kits
• Sharps disposal
• Connects to housing and social supports

The goal is to provide access to basic needs and the services, system navigation and advocacy required to achieve stability and foster recovery for those experiencing homelessness.

Similar models have been successful in cities such as:

• Oshawa (Mission United)
• London (Community Hub)
• Kingston (Integrated Care Hub)

The local Consortium of non-profits is responsible for all financial aspects of the work and adherence to budget requirements includes:

• Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre
• Canadian Mental Health Association – Hastings Prince Edward
• Enrichment Centre for Mental Health
• Grace Inn Shelter
• John Howard Society of Belleville
• Southeast Health Unit (formerly Hastings Prince Edward Public Health)
• United Way Hastings Prince Edward

The John Howard Society of Belleville is the lead organization on the project, including managing the building renovation and operation of the facility upon completion.

The City of Belleville is providing support to the Consortium in the form of a financial contribution toward the property purchase and renovation, as well as providing oversight during construction to assist with standard project processes and cost controls.

Construction updates and other information about The Bridge can be found at thebridgehub.ca. Answers to frequently asked questions can be found at: https://thebridgehub.ca/faqs/

What is The Bridge?

The Bridge is a proposed low-barrier collaborative care hub designed to provide essential supports, social services, and primary health care to individuals experiencing homelessness in the Belleville community. This facility will be open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, ensuring that support is always available when it is needed most.

Community-based integrated care hubs, like The Bridge, have been well researched and proven to be successful models for delivering services to the most systematically disadvantaged populations, including youth, seniors, and marginalized groups. Our mission is to create a supportive and caring environment that bridges the gap to recovery and stability for everyone we serve.

Mission: Through a one door, one roof approach, we will ensure people experiencing homelessness have access to both basic needs and the services, system navigation and advocacy required to achieve stability and foster recovery.

Vision: We believe that housing is a human right and envision a community where we all have a home that is safe, stable and affordable. Until then, we will keep hope alive at a safe and welcoming space where community is created.

Values

Integrity we will work with our community honestly and be accountable to each other and our other stakeholders for what we say and do.

Harm Reduction and Trauma-Responsive we prioritize reducing harms and focus on building safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment in our interactions with people.

Strengths-based we identify, celebrate, and build on strengths in order to achieve the individual and shared goals that each sets for themselves.

People-Centered our services are informed by people with lived-experience providing relevant services that meet the needs of individuals, wherever they are at in their journeys.

BuildTheBridge.ca

The concept of ‘The Bridge’ was developed by drop-in partners as a next step for the existing program to provide collaborative services to individuals in one location. The expanded hub would provide wrap-around services including health care, social services and other critical assistance for unhoused members of our community.

City of Belleville in a news release

Warming centre

In 2025, the warming centre is located at The Bridge Integrated Care Hub at 125 South Church St:

The Belleville warming centre will open this Sunday, Nov. 23 and will be located at The Bridge Integrated Care Hub at 125 South Church St.

The Bridge will now offer 22/7 services, open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. during the day and from 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. during the night, seven days a week. See the full details below.

For any inquiries, please contact The Bridge at 613-210-1416.

City of Belleville on Facebook

Warming Centres are intended to provide safe, warm spaces for our community’s most vulnerable and those experiencing homelessness. Warming Centres are not shelters and do not provide overnight sleeping accommodations but are intended to bridge the gap between overwhelmed shelter systems; ensuring there are alternate places for the homeless during the cold weather season. A warming centre is short-term and operates when a combination of precipitation, wind chill, and temperature become dangerously inclement. The paramount purpose is the prevention of death and injury from exposure to the elements. A Warming Centre is generally one open space, for people to warm up, and be observed with safety precautions in mind.

Hastings County

The City of Belleville has stated that while no beds are provided, individuals are encouraged to sleep on the concrete floor with a sleeping bag:

No one will stop anyone from sleeping in the Warming Centre. It has always been this way.

Councillor Kathryn Brown on Facebook

During the day, individuals are encouraged to utilize public facilities to stay warm.

Security is on site 24/7.

Background

In June 2021, Bridge Street United Church started providing a daily drop-in program providing a safe place to visit during the day for those who are experiencing homelessness or financial challenges open 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, 7 days. The centre offered access to showers, laundry, phone, and WiFi. Harm reduction and outreach public health nursing services are also provided on-site, as well as a daily hot lunch and snacks.

The program was operated by the John Howard Society in partnership with Bridge Street United Church, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and Grace Inn Shelter. Funding is provided by Hastings County Community and Human Services, with additional support from the City of Belleville social infrastructure fund.

Initially meant for 15 people who needed to be off the streets because of COVID-19 restrictions, 3 years later that number has ballooned to 200 due to rising housing costs and the pandemic. The City and The Bridge’s Program Directory have since pointed out that the drop-in program outgrew the church location.

Looking to move the location out of downtown Belleville, expand and co-locate services, Belleville requested funding support for The Hub project from the provincial government 3 times:

• 1st time: May 2023 when council was approving funding for the hub project.
• 2nd time: November 14, 2023, a week after Belleville saw 90 drug overdoses in one week.
• 3rd time: February 12 the Mayor asked the Ontario government for a $2M investment in a community hub (“The Bridge”), as well as a local detox centre

In May 2023, Belleville provided $2.4 million to John Howard Society (acting on behalf of the Consortium) to develop the property at 1 Alhambra Square. On July 28, 2023, Belleville transferred the title for the building to John Howard Society. In April 2024 an order of magnitude estimate anticipated total cost of renovation to be $6M.

The John Howard Society of Belleville and ‘The Bridge’ Steering Committee will be doing the due diligence process to purchase the site and pending successful completion, will proceed with the design and construction of the hub.

On January 27, 2025, the Ford government funded the proposal submitted by Canadian Mental Health Association – Hastings Prince Edward (CMHA HPE) and partner groups to the Ministry of Health with $6.3 million per year of operational funding for an initial term of three years making The Bridge one of the 18 new HART hubs across the province.

How was the location selected?

After the need for a new location was identified, and the concept was developed by drop-in partners, the search for a facility to house the hub started. The former banquet hall at 1 Alhambra Sq. was selected by local service partners as the ideal location:

… that combination of an appropriate amount of inside space to house all the services that are necessary, space to deliver those services, including the drop-in space and health and social services as well as outdoor area that can be used as part of the program.

Steve van de Hoef

The drop-in centre now at Bridge Street United Church would be relocated away from the city core to the former two-storey, 10,000 square foot banquet hall at 1 Alhambra Hall to not only provide direly needed services but to provide relief for some downtown merchants given declining footfall by customers wary of the homelessness presence in the city core.

Derek Baldwin, The Intelligencer

Is this affecting our community? Yes. Is it affecting our business community? Yes. Is it affecting condos being built over there, and condos being there? Yes. What are we going to do in risk? We can kick this down the road the province doesn’t anything – 15 years [the Province] haven’t done anything about doctor recruitment. The risk we have is our downtown, our business, our condos being built.

…

we need a continue-of-care model, that’s what I am pressing for and hopefully we will get there. The Bridge is a low barrier, it is one of the most important things that will happen in continual care, 24 hours drop in. Your next stage will be a detox centre or a get-well centre with beds … we need that whole model.

…

I had as many people phone me and talk to me about wanting us to put this money in as I did [from those not wanting] to put it in. The ones that did not want to put in: “close the church, you’re feeding them too much, kick them out of town, 33% are from out of town town, why are you feeding them”, that’s what I’m getting from those people. You know, if they knew that in the economic development factor, the economic development that that church, in that spot, is costing us, is costing us way more than what we’re going to risk and invest in.

Mayor Neil Ellis

Belleville funded 50% of the initial costs

Funding

Total: $7,880,443

Belleville is funding about half of the around $7.8 million it will cost to buy, repair, and renovate the building and get it up and running:

• City of Belleville (includes property purchase): $4,288,955
• Health Canada – Emergency Treatment Fund (Federal): $2,794,488
• John M. & Bernice Parrott Foundation (Donation): $500,000
• Ministry of Health – HART Hub Funding (Provincial): $246,500
• Donations: $50,500

Budget

Total: $7,867,355

• Property Purchase (City of Belleville): $1,288,955
• Professional Fees (Engineers, Architects, Construction Management): $1,110,035
• Construction (Demolition, Structural Repairs, Site Work and Full Fit-Out): $4,676,500
• Contingency (if needed for unforeseen additional costs during construction): $584,563
• HST (after eligible rebates): $207,302

The Banquet Centre was listed for sale through Royal LePage realtor Brad Warner for $1,199,900 in May 2023.

The property was reportedly purchased by Belleville and donated to the John Howard Society. The City has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with John Howard Society which says that they City will get the property back if the project doesn’t go forward. Funds will not be released until a full business plan is in city hands.

Funding allocated:

• Purchase
  • 2023: MOU to provide $2.4M million to purchase ($1.416M) and develop ($1M) the former banquet hall at 1 Alhambra Sq
• Repairs
  • 2024: Renovation budget increased to $3M in the 2024 Operating Budget
  • 2025: $3.5M from Health Canada
• Operation
  • 2025-2028: $6.4M per year for 3 years from Ontario Ministry of Health
• $500,000 from the John M. and Bernice Parrott Foundation

Construction company is Bel-Con Design-Builders Ltd. of Belleville.

Ford government funded operation costs for 3 years

On January 27, 2025, the Ford government funded the proposal submitted by Canadian Mental Health Association – Hastings Prince Edward (CMHA HPE) and partner groups to the Ministry of Health with $6.3 million per year of operational funding for an initial term of three years making The Bridge one of the 18 new HART hubs across the province.

Statements by stakeholders

The Bridge hub meets the immediate needs of individuals experiencing homelessness, some of whom, are also experiencing substance abuse use harms and mental health issues while longer term system responses are implemented

Steve van de Hoef, director of Programs and Administration at Bridge Street United Church to reporters

Before [The Bridge] opened, we had nothing. Nowhere to go. And you get banned from everywhere

It’s just like home … It keeps us warm and safe.

So many of us would be dead right now if it wasn’t for them, myself included.

Brian Orford

Being able to provide health care and social services in one location is crucial to getting the most vulnerable members of our community the help and support they need. It is clear that the existing drop-in program requires additional space and resources to build on the great work they are doing and we, as a council, are proud to support that effort.

Mayor Neil Ellis

The idea is to provide services for people who are experiencing homelessness in our community and wrap around that health and social service care for them, building on the strength that they bring and addressing needs in their day-to-day life while supporting them to transition to a more stable life that includes goals that they set for themselves

The Bridge Hub meets the immediate needs of individuals experiencing homelessness, some of whom are also experiencing substance use harms and mental health issues, while longer-term system responses are implemented

We commend the City of Belleville for demonstrating decisive leadership in securing a new location for ‘The Bridge’ health and social service hub

Steve van de Hoef, director of programs and administration at Bridge Street United Church, where the John Howard Society operates a drop-in program called the Bridge Integrated Care Hub told The Intelligencer and Quinte News

Those seeking other social service supports are encouraged to contact Hastings County Community and Human Services at 613-771-9630 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or the after-hours emergency line at 1-877-528-9514 between 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. for more information on services provided.