Two outreach programs are being introduced in Guelph with the hopes of helping the city’s underprivileged and vulnerable while making downtown safer for visitors and businesses.
The Streetwise Community Initiative, which is being funded for two years through a Proceeds of Crime grant, creates volunteer opportunities and recreation activities for the homeless.
WATCH: The reality of being homeless in the summer
The other program is the Downtown Guelph Welcoming Streets Initiative that will see an outreach worker respond to drug overdoses, mental health situations and also support businesses that are in need of assistance with someone in crisis.
“We can’t do everything,” said inspector Cate Welsh with Guelph police, who are involved with both projects. “Rather than always be reactive to the end result, it’s really exciting to be involved in a proactive piece of it.”
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Carlin Dykstra is the coordinator of the Streetwise Community Initiative and said the homeless community was in need of something more.
“So what came out of it was this project to touch all of those areas of need,” she said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Dykstra has organized a beach volleyball team, a trip to a Guelph Royals game, rock climbing, along with yoga, dance and art classes.
The project is in its infancy and Dykstra said it’s been difficult to get people to commit to the activities, but turnout is improving.
“The most effective form of recruitment is when it’s coming from a peer,” she explained. “I have an individual who has been to volleyball a few times and him encouraging others to come to volleyball is going to be way more effective than me ever encouraging people to come.”
Volunteer opportunities include the Guelph Humane Society and the YMCA.
Dykstra said the hope is to identify and develop the participants’ strengths and goals to move them forward in their life.
“Even that success of one person in each program is going to better that one person’s life, which I think is invaluable,” she said.
The Downtown Guelph Welcoming Streets Initiative aims to engage vulnerable individuals in the downtown area, according to Insp. Welsh.
The idea is to have an outreach worker from the Guelph Community Health Centre who will respond to intervention calls instead of police officers.
“It’s somewhat crisis intervention, and also education and support,” Welsh said. “Also to support the businesses with resources and information they can access when they are dealing with situations that are out of their control.”
The initiative is a five-month pilot project that got underway in July.
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