Meeting a Community Need – HART HUB

HART Hub Waterloo Region will provide support to unhoused community members who are ready to make a change with their substance use.

House of Friendship is excited to partner with Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo to provide HART Hub services in Waterloo Region.

Through HART (Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment) Hubs, the Province of Ontario is investing almost $550 million to support people who are experiencing homelessness and living with addiction.

Through the program, community members will connect with staff from House of Friendship and working alongside Community Healthcaring’s outreach teams that are already in place. These teams will meet regularly with unhoused community members who are struggling with mental health and addiction challenges, whether they are at encampments or community programs like Ray of Hope.

“Most supports in the community are only offered during the daytime, and with these expanded services, the HART team will meet people where they are at, into the evenings and weekends,” said Jennifer Scott, Housing Director at House of Friendship.

In Waterloo Region, the HART Hub is not one single location. Rather, it is a network of services that have been expanded to meet the needs of the community. House of Friendship is just one of many important partners in the HART Hub.

The program will include a drop-in component at locations throughout the community including Community Healthcaring’s clinic and the Ray of Hope Community Centre, but House of Friendship will also provide transitional housing for up to 12 community members – giving them a safe home while participating in an abstinence-based program that includes life skills and recreational programming, along with counselling.

The goal is to support individuals who are chronically homeless (unhoused for more than six months) and who are ready to make a change, actively seeking a pathway out of addiction and homelessness.

“We want to support people so they can secure permanent housing,” said Jennifer. “As soon as they enter the program, we will be talking about how they can get ready to live on their own.”