Summit gathers London's top sectors to find supports for the city's homeless ahead of winter

More than 200 people from different agencies in London came together at a conference on Wednesday to discuss a collaborative approach to tackling the city's homelessness crisis.

The Health and Homelessness Summit took place at the Hellenic Community Centre. It saw an array of sectors including health-care, community outreach, businesses and developers working together to offer more tangible support for those living on the streets.

"The situation is so dire that only way we're going to solve it is if we take the best of London and apply it," said Scott Courtice, executive director of London InterCommunity Health Centre.

"We've been in our own sectors and silos for too long but we need an all of community response to solve this, and I've walked out today feeling like we made a big step." 

Community partners discussed data surrounding those living on London's streets from May to August of this year. They made a joint commitment in doing whatever they can to provide resources to get people sheltered ahead of the winter months that are around the corner. 

Insights in moving winter response plan forward

A significant way to create lasting system change is by hearing the different perspectives of people wanting to help move the city's winter response plan forward, said Lynne Livingstone, manager of the City of London.

Through the help of local organizations, the city plans to add more shelters and resting spaces to ensure people are supported during the cold months. The plan will be revealed to the public in the coming weeks, Livingstone added. 

"The community has done some fantastic work in developing the plan and because of their good work, we're going to be able to respond in the very immediate concern of November, December, and January, while we work quickly to look at a more systemic solution."

The report also found that vulnerable individuals had significantly more interactions with street-level outreach workers, helping to divert calls to the emergency department. At the same time, London Police reported a 56 per cent increase in mental health calls and a higher number of volatile and violent cases.

Livinstone said this data didn't surprise her, but pointed to the immediate need for action.

Teamwork creating a sense of hope

The statistics show that two in five people experiencing homelessness also suffer from chronic illnesses, but systemic barriers to health care prevent them from getting the help they need. 

"One of the worst things for your health is to be homeless but it's difficult to address health and chronic illness when people are unsheltered," said Courtice. "The first and most important form of support is to get people inside and understand each individual's needs to wrap supports around them."

A big takeaway for Jackie Schleifer Taylor, president of the London Health Sciences Centre, is the urgency of having the region's largest hospital work alongside community and social services to enhance health care.

"If we just get the right people in the room who can understand our individual parts of the system, but be really open to the understanding that there's an integrated need, then we can actually come up with fabulous new ways of doing things," she said.

"Whenever we talked about percentages or numbers, people in the room understood that we're talking about people and their lives, and that's powerful."

With the data showing that 20 per cent of people showing up to emergency departments either leave against medical advice or refuse to be admitted, Schleifer Taylor acknowledges that there are people who have lost faith in the system, a trust, she says, her team is committed to rebuilding.

Her plans to do that include striving toward inclusion and social accountability, while creating a safe space that meets people where they're at. She feels hopeful that working as a team can achieve that goal. 

The groups will receive a report following the summit, and plan to meet again in December and January to discuss more actionable steps for the future.