Hamilton wants resident input on mental health, addiction, housing and hate crimes

The city wants Hamilton residents to weigh in aboutmental health, housing and homelessness, hate crimes, violence, substance use, and access to income as part of thecommunity safety and well-being plan.

The city will hold meetings in February, and has an online portal where people can give their thoughts until March 1.

The project will look at how local services are delivered. Severalagencies,includingHamilton Police Service, are part of the committee.The city's police services board has also said the plana way to reexamine which services are offered and funded through the police budget.

The plan is even more important now, the city says, because COVID-19 has exposed inequities in terms of health and the economy.

The provincially mandated project "is an opportunity to examine the root causes of complex challenges facing Hamilton and find new ways to integrate and balance services and supports in thecommunity," the city said in a release.

"A collective shift in focus from a reactive crisis response-based approach to incidents in thecommunityto an upstream, holistic approach tocommunitydevelopment will be a critical to Hamilton's health, social, and economic recovery.

Residents can register to participate in onlinemeetings scheduled forFeb.24 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., or Feb.25 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

"There will be additional opportunities and channels for community members and service providers to provide feedback throughout the development and implementation of Hamilton's community safety and well-being plan," the city said.