Healing With Hope program gets updated facility at 200 Larch

A downtown Sudbury community hub that assists people on the streets is benefiting from an influx of federal funding.

Ahmed Hussen, Canada's Minister of Housing, visited 200 Larch Street to announce the final touches on construction of the property's second floor an area that will be devoted to the Healing With Hope managed alcohol program.

The Healing With Hope program deals with clients using an "interdisciplinary approach," to treating alcoholism, Patty Macdonald, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association - Sudbury/Manitoulin, told CBC News.

Now, those clients will have access to a modern setup, complete with physicians, nursing staff, and social workers to provide wraparound care and services.

"I would say that mental health and addictions has escalated greatly over the pandemic," Macdonald said. " We were already in need in the country, in the province, in our community for mental health and addiction services."

"Now we're seeing a lot more higher acuity, so a higher need for individuals when they come in for services."

Prior to the floor's completion at 200 Larch, residents were housed in a separate property, but have had access to these new residences since 2020.

But even with more services available in one location, challenges could remain to properly staff 200 Larch, including people to look after the 35-bed emergency shelter on the first floor.

"Right now we do have enough staff for the Healing With Hope program," MacDonald said. "But just like any organization in healthcare right now, health human resources is always a challenge, especially in the clinical or nursing component."

Although the issue of homelessness has become more visible in many cities across the country, Minister Hussen said the federal government is becoming "more ambitious" in how it attempts to tackle challenges across northern Ontario.

That includes more funding streams, and helping cities access funds to affordable housing solutions.

Hussen even hinted at funding a new co-op housing unit in Sudbury, the first of its kind in 30 years.

"How we treat the most vulnerable, how we work with them to stabilize their lives and help them is a reflection of who we are," he said, adding that the feds have a target of completely eliminating homelessness.

"I think we can do it, we can get the job done, but we can't do it alone," Hussen said. "We need municipalities, we need the nonprofit sector, we need everyone to really work together."