First HART Hub set to open in Niagara

Gateway Residential & Community Support Services and nine other Niagara organizations have joined forces to open a homeless and addiction recovery treatment centre, otherwise known as a HART Hub.

“What they’re meant to do is to provide services to individuals with complex needs, specifically homeless, experiencing homelessness, mental health, addictions, challenges, and to provide supports for them to assist with their recovery journey,” program manager Alison Chambers said.

The new treatment centre will be located at 145 Queenston St. in St. Catharines.

While the space is empty today, Chambers says it will offer a range of services including community-based mobile services and peer support.

“We will also be offering mental health and addictions treatment, psychiatry and employment supports as well,” she added.

“With funding from the HART Hub, we will be enhancing access to supportive housing. So with those dollars, we will be increasing the amount of units of supportive housing in Niagara.”

Earlier this week, nine former supervised drug consumption sites transitioned into recovery centres following a provincial law that bans them from operating within 200 metres of schools or daycares.

The province says that each HART Hub will receive up to $6.3 million per year for up to three years.

The Gateway staff in Niagara say they’re still waiting to receive theirs.

“We’ve been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make that happen,” Program director Shelly Mousseau said.

“We’re really ready to go. We’re just waiting for those funds to flow from the provincial government. We hope in the next four to six weeks that we can really see this starting to roll out.”

Mousseau says anyone experiencing homelessness who would like to access the HART Hub services can call 2-1-1 to speak with the Niagara outreach workers.

“One of our outreach workers will come out and engage with people wherever they’re at,” she said.

Gateway staff say they’re still figuring out the operation hours, but the hub will be open seven days a week.

READ MORE: 9 Ontario supervised consumption sites set to close will become treatment hubs