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AT ISSUE: WoodGreen's First Step to Home celebrates one year anniversary helping older homeless men

May 25

Written by: admin
5/25/2011 

It's been just more than a year since 28 street involved and homeless men aged 55-plus moved into a once derelict hotel in Riverside.
After years of neglect, WoodGreen Community Services purchased the former New Edwin Hotel at 650 Queen St. E., just west of Broadview Avenue, in the spring of 2008 and renovated it into new affordable transitional housing.
The inaugural batch of residents moved into their own furnished bachelor apartment, each with its own three-piece washroom and a kitchenette with a fridge, stove and microwave, in the circa 1908 building last March.
The east-end social services agency spent about 18 months completely repurposing the three-story building at a cost of $3.8 million, which was made possible through funding from the City of Toronto's housing allocation policy as well as other partner agencies, private donors and government ministries.
"It's a nice place," said Kelly Glover, who has lived at First Step to Home since last April and is now helping set up a new volunteer program where residents help seniors in the community with general maintenance or small clean-up jobs.
Those living at First Step to Home, many of whom have been homeless or inadequately housed for some time, can live there for up to four years.
While there, residents can receive assistance to address any health and any other issues they may have thanks to a partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Programs like drumming and guitar circle also exist to provide residents with social activities.
Residents also receive life skills training and other supports to help them move closer to independent living. Each resident is provided with volunteer as well as employment opportunities.
WoodGreen also runs various food programs at the Queen Street East site including grocery shopping trips, communal meals and bagged lunches for both the public and the residents.
"There's a wide variety of supports on site. It's wrap-around support," said Pablo Escobar, the facility's manager, during a recent tour of the space, adding some programs held in the building's main floor amenity area are open to the public.
The downtown east facility, the first model of its kind in North America, was developed through extensive research and in consultation with other programs for homeless people across Canada and the United States.
"First Step to Home works because it addresses all the specific needs of homeless seniors in a low barrier, non-judgmental, safe and supportive environment and combines there with all the health and welfare services the seniors need - all under one roof," said Brian Smith, president and CEO of WoodGreen Community Services.
"Our first year was a real success thanks to the dedication, commitment and hard work of the 28 previously homeless men, aged 55 and older, who live there."
A strong believer that no one should have to grow old on the streets of Toronto, Smith said WoodGreen is proud of the program, the staff members and the clients at First Step to Home.
"The entire program is designed to incorporate the positive outcomes of housing models across North America," he said.
"For us, the last year has been great," Escobar said, noting First Step to Home is a program with different phases that started with giving residents stability, building trust and getting them involved in on-site programs and other volunteer opportunities.
He said the next phase is to help residents develop stronger independent living skills as they begin to think about their future and prepare to move out on their own.
"The goal of the program is to help folks transition back to permanent housing," Escobar said, adding the men who live at First Step to Home have worked hard to become valued members of the Riverside neighbourhood.
"Kelly (Glover) and others are very concerned about the community and want to integrate with the community. We're very open to speaking to the neighbourhood."
Smith said First Step to Home is just the first step in a journey to independent living and said each senior living at the facility would continue to receive support by a case manager as they positively reintegrate into the community.
Woodgreen Community Services is a United Way supported social service agency that has provided support for east end residents continuously since 1937.
First Step to Home is always in need of personal supplies and household items residents need to get a fresh start in their lives. Anyone interested in contributing is welcome to do so as there is a constant need for household supplies such as towels, pillows, blankets and sheets and other household essentials.

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