It’s not hopeless, there is a way to help those who are homeless who have complex needs.  That’s the message from United Way of Saskatoon and Area CEO, Sheri Benson.  She explains that back in 2014, the United Way partnered with Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service on a program called Journey Home. The goal is to get chronically homeless individuals with mental health and substance use challenges into housing and then provide ongoing, wrap-around supports.

Benson says dozens of people each year leave the streets and return to being housed in an environment where they can receive support and be a part of the community. In one instance, a person who had been homeless for 17 years was picked up just about every day over the course of a year by police, an ambulance or the Fire Department. Through Journey Home, the person was given a safe place to live and the supports to remain off the streets, and the calls to pick them up have reduced to almost zero.

Benson suggests programs like this need to be ramped up, and the way to do that is through collaboration with individuals, organizations and all levels of government. Recently, the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners sent the province a letter, urging for increased long-term support for people with complex needs experiencing homelessness. The United Way echoes that request.