Amid housing and addictions crises, transitional help in Thunder Bay, Ont., offers hope

Ruth Winter tears up as she remembers learning she secured a space in transitional housing in Thunder Bay, Ont.

"I just felt so much weight coming off my shoulders," said Winter. "It's home, where I can shower daily, where I can eat."

The member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation, anOji-Cree First Nation about 350 kilometres north of Sioux Lookout, saidshe has been an alcoholic since age 13. She lived on the streets in Winnipeg for three years and almost died of a heart valve infection from doing intravenous drugs with a used needle.

Nowin recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction, she'sliving in one of two transitional housing buildings run by the Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario (EFSNWO). The organization supports women and gender diverse peopleinvolved withthe criminal justice system.

At the low-barrier, harm reduction-based housing, clients receive on-site support from staff members with lived experience of the challenges they're experiencing as they work to meet their goals and get into long-term housing. Other community service agencies also provide programming there each week.

"Most of the workers have been where I am," Winter said. "They're actually helping other people because they've been through that."

WATCH | Reaching recovery through transitional housing:

Reaching recovery through transitional housing

1 month ago

Duration 4:14

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario runs two transitional houses in Thunder Bay, Ont., for women and gender diverse people involved in the criminal justice system. Here's what the space means to staff and clients, and what support they want to see from the broader community to help people meet their goals.

But long wait-lists for detox and treatment and a lack of affordable housing meanpeople can't always get the help they need when they're ready for it, said Bonnie Aggamway, system navigator with EFSNWO.

"When somebody's ready to quit, they need to be able to access those resources right away, and sometimes that's just not an option for people," said Aggamway, a former client of EFSNWO who experienced addiction for more than a decade.

"No one should die because they can't get into detox or because they tried to and there wasn't a bed for them."

'I didn't know where to go'

Brittney Muir lived at EFSNWO's transitional house on Archibald Street for two years. Before this, she was homeless for about a year, and said high rents and credit checks made it impossible to find a place to live.

"I'm just trying to get my own place and stay sober," said Muir as she was preparingto move out of the Archibald Street house and into her own apartment.

Similarly, Annette Wesley said that if she hadn't learned about EFSNWO when she was incarcerated,she wouldn't have known what to do.

"I didn't know where to go," Wesley said. "I had nothing whatever I had was the clothes that I had on my back."

The organization helped her access a portable housing benefit. Now, she volunteers there and helps with cooking, cleaning and yard work, and participates in the art programming.

Her next goal is to return to school to become a social worker.

As Muir gets settled in her new place, her advice to others is to "stay strong, believe in yourself. You can do it."

Province responds to demands for detox beds

There are more than 1,350 applications on the wait-list for rent-geared-to income housing in the District of Thunder Bay. Of those, over 480 identify as being homeless or in a temporary housing situation, according to the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB). Meanwhile, the City of Thunder Bay says the average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,054.

Bill Bradica, TBDSSAB's outgoing CEO, told CBC News in an email that 173 transitional/supported housing units have been approved in the last five years. Of those, 132 are operational and 41 others are expected to be ready next year.

Fifty-seven additional transitional units are under construction.Housing partners have been pushing upper levels of government for more support for transitional housing in Thunder Bay due to demands, Bradica said.

As for detox, the Balmoral Centre at 667 Sibley Dr.operates the only withdrawal management program in the city. The 25-bed program, run by St. Joseph's Care Group, is open 24/7.

On Wednesday, St. Joseph's Care Group announced the Balmoral Centre and Crossroads,a recovery centre that offers pre- and post-treatment services, will be swapping sites. The detox beds are being relocated to Crossroads' Oliver Road locationin the fall, while renovations get underway for Crossroads to reopen at Sibley Drivein summer 2025.

However, there haven't been any updates about an additional 40-bed detox facility in Thunder Bayproposed by St. Joseph's Care Group at the end of 2021.

CBC News requested an interview with OntarioAssociate Minister of Mental Health and AddictionsMichael Tibollo, and asked about the proposal's status, given that Thunder Bay has the highest opioid toxicity mortality rate in the province.

Hannah Jensen,deputy director of communications for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, confirmed to CBC News that a proposal for a detox bed facility was received by Ontario Health, a provincial Crown agency. As of publication time, she was looking into the status of that application.

'Working with people where they're at'

Kayla Baxendale, anotherEFSNWO system navigator, said clients trust her because they know she's been where they are now.

Following a breakdown in a long-term relationship, she ended up experiencing addiction, and lost her job, vehicle and house in the process. With support from her family, she attended treatment outside the province and then got into housing.

Now on the other side of the system, her office at the Archibald Street house feels like a second home.

"We are fostering programming and services that our clients need to gain those life skills to possibly move on to longer-term housing and be able to sustain long-term housing for a longer period of time," she said.

"It's just kind of working with people where they're at."

It's a lot of work for only a handful of staff to manage, though. Consistent fundingand more support from the broader community areessential if they want to make a dent in the city's addictions and housing crises, she said.

"We need to have that funding available so we can provide the most vulnerable population with these services, to help them regain their life back and to stop them from possibly going back on the streets," Baxendale said.

But none of that is possible if people don't have food, clothing or shelter.

"It doesn't matter whether you have addictions or mental health issuesit's a necessity for everybody," said Baxendale. "People really need to come together and help one another and be a community."