SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES 

Homelessness Prevention

The Canadian definition of Homelessness describes the situation of an individual, family or community without stable, safe, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it. 

 

There are different types of homelessness:

Unsheltered

  • Living outside (“living rough” on sidewalks, parks, forest, etc.)
  • Living in places not intended for human habitation
         (vehicles, garages, out buildings, hunting camps, tents etc.)

Emergency Sheltered

  • Emergency overnight shelters for people who are homeless
  • Shelters for individuals and families impacted by family violence and natural disaster

Provisionally Accommodated

  • Referring to those whose accommodation is temporary or lacks security of tenure

Temporarily Sheltered

  • Interim housing for people who are homeless 
  • Temporarily living with other people (couch surfing, staying with family, etc.)
  • People in institutions with no guarantee of permanent housing upon release (hospital, correction facilities, treatment facilities, etc.)
  • Reception Centres for recently arrived newcomers

At-Risk of Homelessness

  • Refers to people who are not homeless, but whose current economic and/or housing situation is precarious or does  not meet public health and safety standards
  • It should be noted that for many people homelessness is a fluid experience, where one’s shelter circumstances and options may shift and change quite dramatically and with frequency

Coordinated
Access

Rent

Connect

RENT CONNECT is a web-based application that will aim to connect landlords to prospective tenants.
Coordinated Access Process

Ontario Works

Financial Assistance

In need of financial assistance? Click here to be linked to financial assistance services

Homelessness Response

Hastings County Community Response Team

Specialized outreach workers manage the By-Name List while working intensively with those individuals on the list to navigate community resources, while striving for long-term housing solutions. The Community Response team can be contacted by email at communityresponse@hastingscounty.com. 

Grace Inn Shelter

Grace Inn is a multifaceted agency within the Hastings County region supporting those experiencing homelessness. Grace Inn Shelter opened December 16, 2019, to provide Hastings County's first and only homeless shelter. Their mission statement is "Housing homeless adults in a safe, dignified, and hospitable environment by meeting essential needs, providing compassionate mentors, and advocating for a future with hope"

Grace Inn Shelter provides 21 overnight shelter beds for both male and female identifying homeless individuals.

Grace Inn also operates Grace Inn Shiloh House, which is a male-identifying housing program for up to 6 individuals that have expressed a want/need for strengthening their independent living skills. Shiloh house is a 24 hour a day staffed environment providing structured programming and Case Management focusing on various life skills, effective communication and conflict management. The maximum stay is 364 days with the hope that the resident will secure successful, permanent housing before this period expires.  

https://graceinnshelter.com/ 

Bridge Street United Church (BSUC)/John Howard Society (JHS)

Day-time Drop In Program

BSUC provides a range of services for the homeless and vulnerable population, including meal programming, shower and laundry, as well as linkages to health services and harm reduction.

https://johnhoward.on.ca/belleville/services/homelessness-services-daytime-drop-in/

 

After-Hours Emergency Homeless Services

Hastings County, along with Grace Inn Shelter operate an After-Hours Emergency Homeless Program. When Hastings County offices close at 4:30, on weekends and holidays the following number becomes active for those in need "after-hours"

1-877-528-9514

Services offered by phone are:

Immediate phone response

Referrals to Services

Transportation to Safe Shelter

In the moment diversion support

Safety planning

Appropriate supports for shelter

After Hours Emergency Services 

 

Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness

Hastings County Community and Human Services staff have developed and maintained a close working relationship with The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, (CAEH) with respect to their mandate to prevent and end homelessness in Canada. CAEH has provided support with the enumeration process, the mandated By-Name List, (BNL) and Coordinated Access in Hastings County.

Accurate data is valuable not only to support the ongoing work being done by Hastings County staff, but also to support advocacy for funding that is desperately needed in our communities.

Homelessness is a complex issue, along with CAEH, our structured, supportive and data-driven approach will focus on optimizing our homelessness response. 
The new coordinated access system is also a key driver in the valuable work being done by not only Hastings County but our community partners.

Staff are committed to updating and reporting a homelessness scorecard on a quarterly basis. 
https://caeh.ca/ 

 

 

Built for Zero Score Card

Built for Zero Canada is an ambitious national change effort to end homelessness across Canada. As a participant, Hastings County is committed to addressing chronic homelessness. Quarterly, Hastings County will share information about the number of people experiencing homelessness in our community, and the inflow and outflow of the system we work within. We hope that sharing this information will promote transparency and accountability in our homelessness response.

 

See Score Card here

Community Integration Resources

Hastings County Community and Human Services staff completed a Community Investment Review that was approved by the Community and Human Services Committee and County Council in September 2022. 
The Investment Review resulted in a new and simplified application process for funding. A standard application has been developed to allow applicants the opportunity to detail and define their funding ask and the support service that will be provided as well as detail how it meets the vision of the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) guidelines and the needs of the community it serves.
The Investment Review also identified service area priorities that Committee and Council approved as being key areas to which that funding should be directed. The applications will be reviewed, scored, and weighted based on how well they address the identified service priorities. 
 View the full report

Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) has been replaced by the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP). HPP consolidates the CHPI, Home for Good (HFG), and the Strong Communities Rent Supplement Program (SCRSP) into one flexible program. The program consolidation responds to several findings and recommendations from the December 2021 Office of the Auditor General of Ontario (OAGO) Value-for-Money Audit of homelessness programs, the recent

Multi-Ministry Supportive Housing Initiative (MMSHI), housing engagement sessions with service managers in 2020-2021, and program reviews of CHPI, HFG, SCRSP. 


The HPP vision is to provide funding to support service managers in implementing a variety of flexible, local approaches to delivery of services and supports with three key goals and outcomes: 

  1. Preventing homelessness and ensuring people at risk of homelessness remain housed and have connections to support services.
  2. Addressing homelessness and ensuring people who are experiencing homelessness or experiencing homelessness chronically obtain and retain housing and support services.
  3. Reducing the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness. 

The HPP service categories are: 

  • Supportive housing
  • Community outreach and support services
  • Housing assistance
  • Emergency shelter solutions

Hastings County Community and Human Services staff are pleased to announce the availability of Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) funding for 2023.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/addressing-homelessness 
 

The Hastings County Community Response Team is comprised of specialized outreach case workers. The CRT works intensively with the homeless and vulnerable population, and those individuals on the By-Name list to navigate community resources, with a goal of long-term housing solutions.

 

The Community Response team can be contacted by email at communityresponse@hastingscounty.com. 

Vital Services: Vital services by-laws are to ensure landlords are providing adequate and suitable vital services such as light, heat, water, and sewer. Municipal enforcement measures include the power to remedy the situation and recover all costs through either collection of rent or the application of a lien on the property. Clients (and/or tenants) typically contact the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre (CALC) at 613-966-8686, who refer the case to Hastings County through the Policy and Planning Coordinator, Sheri Gardiner at 613-966-1311 ext. 2435.

Hastings County receives federal funding from Infrastructure Canada (INFC), formerly managed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), to administer Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy in the City of Belleville. 

Reaching Home aims to support individuals and families in the city of Belleville to maintain safe, stable, and affordable housing, and to reduce the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness. These federal funds are overseen by a Community Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB consists of community members with related experience, such as Justice, Legal, Social Services, Faith, Health Care, etc. 

https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/homelessness-sans-abri/index-eng.html 

Hastings County operated warming centres during the cold weather season in The City of Belleville, The City of Quinte West and The Town of Bancroft in 2022-2023. Hastings County understands that Warming Centres are not long-term solutions to the issue of homelessness, however they do provide temporary safe, warm spaces while more permanent housing solutions are being established. 

Hastings County, with Municipal, Provincial and Federal funding support many programs in the Community.

Municipal Community Grants (formerly SAR funding) are issued annually to programs for children and families, Provincial HPP funding is issued per an application process for greatest determined need through the Community Investment Review process, and Federal funding allocaitons through INFC/Reaching Home is allocations by the CAB and Hastings County. 

Rent Connect is a geographic information system-based online service designed to link landlords and prospective renters to housing rental unit opportunities. If you are a landlord wishing to list a property, you can do so at no cost through this interactive tool. Likewise, if looking for rental opportunities, you can use the Rent Connect tool to perform a customized search of listings across Hastings County and the surrounding areas. Check out the tool! 

Key Contacts

Jamie Lynne

Jamie Lynne Osmond

Manager of Homelessness Initiatives and Prevention

613-966-1311 X2334
Email