By: Deirdre Freiheit
Shepherds of Good Hope is so much more than a shelter and soup kitchen. As an organization, we provide a place to stay for over 500 individuals around the clock, 365 days/year. Approximately half of those individuals reside in our shelter. For many, our shelter is the first point of contact for people experiencing homelessness. While we wish our services were not required, the shelter is a place of refuge, and a beacon of hope, where many come to obtain supports that will lead them to find permanent housing options.
Located at the corner of King Edward Avenue and Murray Street, our shelter provides services to men, women, gender diverse individuals and those who live with complex health challenges related to trauma, mental health and addictions. More than 250 people access shelter beds every night, and we connect with them to offer support and facilitate access to treatment, harm reduction services, housing and more. We meet them where they are in their lives’ journeys, without judgement. So many of their needs are complex and for some, the shelter may be their only option for a short time. For others, their stays may be longer depending on their needs and our ability to find housing for them in a city that is currently experiencing a housing crisis.
Shepherds of Good Hope’s shelter was once across the road on the third floor of 233 Murray Street, where our soup kitchen is currently located. In 1983 when we first began, we were serving far fewer individuals. The need has grown exponentially since then. Those who are homeless and vulnerably housed also require food. We serve approximately 700 meals each day to our shelter clients and residents in the Lowertown Community. Additionally, we provide 2000 sandwiches to impoverished people in our area each week. The need is great.
Our Transitional Emergency Shelter Program (TESP) takes up the majority of the first floor, with 49 beds. This innovative program is a partnership with Ottawa Inner City Health and funded by the City of Ottawa. It functions a bit like a mini hospital, whereby health and wellness services are provided to those who would otherwise be utilizing hospital emergency services at a high rate or being brought to jail cells unnecessarily. Caring staff also facilitate access to community services. Individuals who are intoxicated or in crisis are diverted to this program from the Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Paramedic Service, local hospitals, the RCMP and OC Transpo. The goal of the program is to make connections with transient, street-entrenched individuals of all genders who have active addictions and ongoing medical and/or mental health concerns. Shepherds of Good Hope helps them to transition out of homelessness and break the cycle of life on the street.
It’s no small task to run this 49-bed program. There’s a multitude of social service workers, nurses, frontline staff, case managers, facilities staff and others who operate the program 24 hours a day. By accepting diversions, this program helps reduce the time municipal and provincial emergency services and health personnel spend with the diverted individual. This saves the city and province more than $2 million in health care and policing costs each year.
So, the next time you see a police car or ambulance outside of Shepherds of Good Hope, chances are they are not picking someone up, they are most often dropping someone off for care.
The second floor houses our Managed Alcohol Program (MAP). This internationally renowned program is one of the truest expressions of our organization’s mission to provide harm-reduction services to our clients. Here, participants receive a medically prescribed dosage of wine, every hour, for fifteen hours a day. These structured servings significantly prevent harms associated with binge drinking or drinking non-consumable substances such as rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, or mouthwash.
Similar to TESP, we partner with Ottawa Inner City Health and our team offers program participants non-judgmental acceptance, compassion, and care. When they are ready, many move out of the shelter and into our Managed Alcohol Program at the Oaks, one of our permanent supportive housing residences located in the Carlington community.
Our Men’s Shelter, also on the second floor, and our Women’s Shelter, on the third floor, are both full every single night. These programs support homeless women, men, and gender-diverse adults, with the ultimate goal of helping them obtain permanent housing. The shelter experience is focused on renewing dignity and self-worth. Everyone in the shelter is provided with a bed, storage locker, meals and access to shower facilities. In a supportive, environment, we offer an array of services tailored to help our clients cope with trauma, addictions and their physical and mental health challenges. We also schedule a number of group activities and outings, creating a sense of community for all.
The third floor also houses our Women and Gender Diverse Services program. Here, peer support workers help clients in our Women’s Shelter develop life skills like cooking, personal care, and job skills. Peer workers help to build trust and foster positive relationships with the individuals we serve because, not too long ago, they were in the same position. All of our peer workers have lived experience with addictions, homelessness, and/or mental health.
It takes a lot of people power to run these programs. On any given week day, there are cleaners doing laundry, scrubbing floors, and ensuring our facilities are clean. There are maintenance staff replacing lightbulbs, fixing doors and windows, patching up walls, and so much more. There are caring staff in all programs at any given time who help clients find housing; address mental health, physical health, and addictions challenges; connect clients to services they need; and help them get back on their feet. These counsellors, social workers, social service workers, nurses, and others are the backbone of Shepherds of Good Hope.
There is also a team of human resources professionals, data and research staff, case managers and client service workers who make the work we do every day at Shepherds of Good Hope possible.
It costs more than $4.5 million to run all the programs in this building each year, but in our Men’s and Women’s shelter alone, we serve more than 2,250 individuals every year. Our supportive housing programs serve approximately 250 individuals each day. We run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round. We’re open Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, on the hottest day of the year and the coldest nights. We have to, because without these life-saving services, many people would have nowhere else to go.
Hundreds of people walk through the doors at 256 King Edward Avenue every day. Whether they are clients, staff, or volunteers, they each pass under an awning emblazoned with Shepherds of Good Hope’s motto — a guiding principle for the work we do each and every day: Homes for All. Community for All. Hope for All.