An outcome of the original plan was the adoption of a Housing First philosophy. A Housing First approach is where people who are experiencing homelessness obtain and maintain permanent, affordable housing, and those who are at risk of homelessness are assisted to remain housed. Housing First places the highest priority on keeping people housed or moving people into permanent housing as quickly as possible, and then providing the support necessary to maintain their housing. To date 1200 households have been successfully housed through this approach.
As required by the legislation, Vink Consulting Inc. was hired in 2019 to work with the community, stakeholders, persons with lived experience, and Administration to conduct the five year review of the 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan.
Home Together, The Windsor Essex 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Master Plan
As required by the legislation, Vink Consulting Inc. was hired in 2019 to work with the community, stakeholders, persons with lived experience, and Administration to conduct the five year review of the 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan. Council in December 2019 (CR300/2018), identifies goals and strategies to achieve the vision that, “Windsor Essex is an inclusive community where everyone has a safe, affordable, accessible and quality home, and everyone lives where they can actively participate.”
In preparing the Plan, Vink Consulting undertook extensive engagement initiatives. In total, 90 participants attended a workshop, 27 people participated in lived experience focus groups, 108 stakeholders attended various small group discussions, 3 questionnaires were conducted with Members of Council, 4 service providers participated in a telephone survey and 1,449 online surveys were completed by members of the public. Approximately 170 people who completed the online survey indicated that they had experienced homelessness.
Goal 3 of the Plan lays out strategies to end homelessness, including the need to conduct a review of the emergency shelter system in Windsor and Essex County and implement recommendations to improve emergency services for people experiencing homelessness.
The review and update of Home, Together, The Windsor Essex 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Master Plan identified a number of challenges with the current emergency shelter services. These included:
A significant increase in demand for shelter, and heavy reliance on motel rooms for families
24/7 access to emergency/crisis services is not available to, or appropriate for, all population groups (e.g. youth, Indigenous Peoples), and individuals experiencing homelessness in Essex County must come to Windsor to access shelter
Low barrier options are not widely available
People who are seeking shelter were not being consistently screened and provided with diversion supports to help them stay in safe non-shelter alternatives.