The Homeless Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub of Simcoe County is approaching its first full year in operation. The hub is a regional network of care teams focused on providing homelessness and addiction recovery treatment support to people with urgent needs. “Individuals could work with us through treatment which is a 28-day cycle and then decide that is all the support they needed or individuals could stay with us through supportive housing and stay connected to us for as long as they need,” said Katie Drake, manager of the HART Hub. Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall said change needs to happen. “We need change to approach in Ontario that focuses on making rehabilitative services, support services, mental health services readily available day in and day out inside of the communities that are struggling with massive addiction and mental health and homelessness,” said Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall. Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the county and other organizations team up to offer their services as one. The hub operates at a cost of roughly $6.3 million dollars a year. So far, about 100 people have already gone through the recovery program with hundreds more being serviced. “Coupling health intervention with homelessness and the needs of complexities of the homelessness is the answer,” said Mina Bagja-Bahgat from the County of Simcoe. “If you layer onto that affordable housing you’ve got a health solution and a housing solution and an economic solution for the same problem - that is something we haven’t seen before.” The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police supports the province’s move to a HART hub system. “We know that we cannot arrest our way out of this,” said Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnson. “We know that criminalizing this societal level issue has not worked and this is a potential avenue that does.” The HART Hub of Simcoe County is funded by the province.
