PelhamToday received the following open letter from reader Steven Soos.
Good day Niagara Regional Chair Bradley, Niagara-area mayors and Niagara-area MPPs. I am writing to you in regard to the Niagara Region’s state of emergency on mental health, homelessness and addiction (declared February 2023) which has also been declared in the City of Welland (May 2023), City of Niagara Falls (June 2022), City of Thorold (June 2022) and the Town of Grimsby (May 2023). In April of 2023, the City of St. Catharines also declared mental health, homelessness and addiction a crisis and supported a request that the province declare an Ontario-wide emergency on mental health, homelessness and addiction.
I would like to begin by sharing some updated statistics on mental health, homelessness and addiction in Niagara Region:
Addiction:
In 2023, there were 731 suspected opioid overdoses responded to by Niagara EMS. In 2022, it was 663 and in 2021, 1,005, respectively.
Examples of Addiction services in Niagara:
- Male and female detox- Niagara Health
- Newport (Port Colborne- drug treatment)- Niagara Health
- Wayside and Arid recovery homes (sober living)
- CASON- Community Addiction Services of Niagara
How can we work together in tackling the issue?
- Request an update from Premier Ford’s government on the Premier’s May 2023 promise in St. Catharines for more drug-treatment centres.
- Transition male and female detox programs from communal sleeping quarters to private rooms to preserve people’s dignity while they are going through drug-withdrawal.
- Request that the Niagara Region deliver more preventative drug-education (public health).
- Niagara-area municipalities request that Premier Ford’s government declare an Ontario-wide state of emergency on homelessness.
Homelessness/Housing Affordability/Rent:
"The most recent Homeless By-Name-List data from the end of November shows 1,177 people on the By Name List" -November 2023 from Adrienne Jugley, Commissioner of Social Services at Niagara Region.
In 2021 Niagara Counts Results 2021 - Niagara Region, Ont., Niagara counts had our homeless population at 665 and 121 children.
Housing affordability was also declared as an emergency by the Town of Grimsby in May 2023.
How can we work together in tackling the issue?
- Municipalities advocate to the provincial government the need for more affordable rents.
- Relaying the need for medium housing supply (supported by City of Welland in September 2023) for young persons entering the market and seniors downsizing, for example.
- Municipalities advocate to the province to commit more funding of residential services for children and adults struggling with an intellectual and/or developmental disability. (Supported by the City of Welland in September 2023).
Examples of homelessness/housing services in Niagara:
Housing-Focused Emergency Shelters in Niagara - Niagara Region, Ont.
Mental Health:
According to Statistics Canada, Niagara Region's rate of suicide is approx. 9.8 deaths per 100,000; compared to Ontario's rate of 7.7 per 100,000.
How can we work together in tackling the issue?
- Utilize the state of emergency to save the Welland hospital and offer mental health and addiction services in house at both Welland Hospital (Supported by City of Welland, September 2023) and West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (Supported by Town of Grimsby, May 2023).
- More therapeutic approaches for treatment of mental healthcare. (Supported by City of Welland, September 2023).
- Work to develop strategies to address mental health (homelessness and addiction) discrimination. (Supported by City of Welland, September 2023).
Niagara-area municipalities endorsement of the Indigenous mobile mental health crisis unit pilot project for Niagara.
Examples of mental health services in Niagara:
- CMHA safe beds program (expand to other Niagara municipalities- currently only available in St Catharines). (serves adults)
- Niagara Region mental health
- Pathstone mental health (youth)
- Niagara Health emergency and mental health services
If anyone has any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I thank you all in advance for reviewing this important update on Niagara Region’s state of emergency for mental health, homelessness and addiction.
Kindest regards and Happy New Year.
Steven Soos
Advocate mental health, homelessness/housing affordability and addiction
Welland
CORRECTION, JAN. 13: Homelessness statistics amended at the request of the author.
