The County of Simcoe, Ont., is continuing to expand its rapid rehousing programs to communities throughout the region, with the latest one soon to open in Collingwood.
The Supportive Rapid Rehousing Program aims to provide services, housing and support to people experiencing homelessness with the aim of helping them gain permanent housing.
The Collingwood site, which will be run in partnership with the county, the Town of Collingwood and The Common Roof, is the latest location, with a site in Orillia already open to address youth homelessness.
“We are excited to enter into a partnership with the County of Simcoe to collaborate with the Town of Collingwood to bring this much-needed program to fruition,” president and CEO of The Common Roof James Thomson said. “By allowing the SRRP program to operate from our property, we can ensure that a specific community benefit to respond to homelessness and housing needs is realized.”
A modular, pre-built housing structure will be placed on The Common Roof property located at 199/197 Cambell St. in Collingwood, which is home to six community-based non-profit organizations and groups.
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The site will have 24-7 on-site services, staffed with trained professionals to assist residents in obtaining permanent long-term housing, with more details to come in the following weeks and the program in operation come summertime.
The county says the program is anticipated to run in this location for five years, with the temporary structure able to house between 10 and 15 people at a time.
Those eligible have been identified as situationally homelessness due to a recent life event rather than chronically homeless.
This program gives individuals wraparound, in-house support to find and integrate into permanent housing, as opposed to acting as a shelter.
“The County continues to take a proactive, forward-thinking approach to addressing homelessness and housing needs in our communities across the region. The SRRP program has been effective in other communities, supporting individuals in need and the community at large,” County of Simcoe Warden Basil Clarke said.
This is part of the County of Simcoe and the Town of Collingwood’s joint efforts to expand the support for and availability of supportive housing in the area and is one of the key parts of the county’s 10-Point Homelessness Prevention Strategy.
A similar program in the city of Barrie resulted in 18 clients, or 90 per cent of all participants, moving to permanent housing during the program. Both these programs have used similar modular, pre-built structures.
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