More than a building: growing a community of support at the HUB

Since opening the doors of the Community Integrated Care HUB at 22 Peel Street in Lindsay this spring, we have learned a lot about what it means to truly bring services together under one roof. 

Operated by the John Howard Society of the Kawarthas, the HUB is open 24 hours a day and supports people experiencing homelessness, housing instability, poverty and other barriers throughout Kawartha Lakes. 

The numbers show just how significant the need is. In our first months at 22 Peel Street, more than 220 unique individuals accessed daytime services, 88 people accessed approximately 950 overnight stays, and more than 3,600 meals were served. 

But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. 

A meal, shower, load of laundry or safe place to sleep can address an immediate need. Our goal is to use that connection as an opportunity to ask: What else can we do to help? 

That is where the HUB’s wraparound model becomes so important. Someone who comes through our doors can connect with skilled resource workers, housing and homelessness outreach, apply for Ontario Works or ODSP, see a nurse practitioner, connect with a community paramedic, access sexual health or Hepatitis C services, receive harm reduction supplies, get help navigating technology or the court system, and work alongside HUB staff to identify their next steps. 

We are fortunate to have an incredible network of community partners helping make that possible. 

Regular and visiting services include Ontario Works, ODSP, City of Kawartha Lakes Housing and Homelessness Outreach, CKL Community Paramedics, Community Care CKL Nurse Practitioner and RPN services, Chrysalis Midwives, Lakelands Public Health Sexual Health services, Community Care Hospice Services, Women’s Resources Drop-in, Canopy Support Services, and the JHS Kawartha Get SET Digital Hub. 

We have also welcomed mobile providers directly into our parking lot. Durham Region’s Hepatitis C team and PARN have brought testing and supports onsite, while Your Neighbourhood Dentist’s mobile dental trailer has helped roster more than 50 people for the Canadian Dental Care Plan and is expected to return this fall. 

Bringing services to people matters. Transportation, phones, identification, cost, stigma and simply knowing where to begin can all become barriers to accessing help. Instead of expecting someone in crisis to navigate multiple systems and locations on their own, our goal is to bring as many of those connections as possible to them. 

This approach is also central to the priorities of Ontario’s Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP). While emergency response remains important, our work must also focus on preventing homelessness, supporting housing stability and helping people move toward safe, sustainable housing by providing person centered care that literally and figuratively meets people where they are at. That requires collaboration across housing, health care, income supports and community services. 

No single agency can end homelessness alone. The HUB works because of the people and organizations willing to show up, collaborate, share ideas, recourses and forage pathways that bridge the gaps. 

JHS Kawartha Community Integrated Care HUB is extremely grateful to be doing this work alongside so many wonderful community partners and that we have been warmly welcomed by our neighbors on Peel Street. 

To see our current community partner calendar, upcoming programming and HUB updates, follow  @JHSKawartha on social media.

– Kristal Jones-Craighead is the Community Integrated Care Hub Director John Howard Society of the Kawarthas.