Outreach workers hold 3rd encampment blitz in Thunder Bay to offer housing, health care in comfortable setting

This summer, outreach workers have come together for special "encampment blitzes" in Thunder Bay, Ont., to help people experiencing homelessness get easier access to housing and health-care resources.

The events involve members from different sectors co-ordinating support for the city's most vulnerable people. 

The third blitz was held Wednesday, in the parking lot of Grace Place, a street ministry that provides free meals and clothing. The first two events were held in encampments on either side of the city.

Pooling resources has become important as more people are living in encampments, nearly triple the number from last year.

The blitzes are big undertakings, but the efforts are paying off.

Having everybody available [at] familiar places for individuals to come to sometimes eases that pressure of them having to go into an agency, and going to a front desk and asking for services.- Michelle Wojciechowski, District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board

"There's been a huge success in uptake to the point where there's lineups of individuals waiting to sign up for services," said Michelle Wojciechowski, manager of intake and eligibility for the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board.

"Having everybody available [at] familiar places for individuals to come to sometimes eases that pressure of them having to go into an agency, and going to a front desk and asking for services." 

Workers at the blitzes help encampment residents and others living in the community fill out housing applications, apply for birth certificates, get testing for hepatitis C and HIV, and navigate the system of care, among other services. They can also better keep track of people's needs, Wojciechowski said.

WATCH | How outreach workers meet people where they are: 

Meeting people’s housing and health-care needs 1 application at a time

1 year ago

Duration 2:31

As outreach workers have become aware of more people than ever sleeping in encampments in Thunder Bay, Ont., outreach workers are pooling their resources to help people where they’re at. The CBC’s Sarah Law went to the third encampment blitz held this summer to learn more about the importance of making services available where people are comfortable accessing them.

Sheila McChristie goes to Grace Place for meals a few times a week, and to get clothing and toys for her grandchildren. She was at Wednesday's blitz event to fill out a housing application and get a birth certificate so she could renew her driver's licence.

McChristie said such events help people "find out information that they wouldn't just come across."

"They can ask certain questions that normally you wouldn't know about and get answers." 

Connecting more people to care

Beneath a bright orange tent set up outside Grace Place, nurses offered free, confidential testing to anyone who stopped by.

Veronica Proper, nurse practitioner and director of client services for the harm reduction agency Elevate NWO, said over 200 people received testing at the first two blitzes.

"[Many of them] will not access traditional health-care services because they don't feel comfortable and they don't feel accepted by those services. So when people come to see us, they know that they can get non-judgmental, supportive care and we'll take good care of them whatever the test outcome is."

It helps, too, that many members of Elevate NWO's team are familiar faces at the encampments, helping build trust among people that their medical concerns will be well taken care of, Proper said.

"People who are homeless or houseless definitely have substantially poorer health outcomes," Proper said. "Very few people choose this particular life, but circumstances often [lead] people here and then it's hard to get out of it again without enough supports around them.

"That's part of why we're here today, is trying to bring supports around people to help get them back into housing, back into a shelter system, and especially before the cold weather comes, because we know what's coming in Thunder Bay."

Here's a rundown of the organizations that have been involved in this summer's blitzes: 

• Alpha Court Community Mental Health and Addiction Services.
• Canadian Mental Health Association Thunder Bay.
• Thunder Bay Counselling.
• Dilico Anishinabek Family Care.
• District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board.
• Elevate NWO.
• John Howard Society.
• Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic.
• Roots to Harvest.
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit.

"The hope would be that we could get as many people housed as we can," said Wojciechowski. "However, we all know that not only Thunder Bay but Ontario and Canada [as] a whole is in a crisis right now with housing.

"We as a community hope to do whatever we can to help get people housed and out of the cold if the opportunity is there."