'Everybody is welcome': Siloam Mission removes sobriety requirement to access shelter, services
'Addiction comes from trauma and ... the experience of homelessness itself is a trauma,' Siloam CEO says
In a move to become more accessible and inclusive of the community it serves, Siloam Mission is no longer requiring people to be sober from drugs and alcohol at its centre.
Officially starting Friday, the drop-in centre and shelter in Winnipeg will provide services based only on a person's needs and behaviour.
"We aren't going to be asking people about their substance use outside of a safety plan," said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, Siloam Mission CEO.
"So this means that all people in need of support, healing and recovery can come and access Siloam so long as they can be part of the community in a community setting," she said.
In the past, staff asked questions at the door and redirected people who had used substances to shelters more open to that, like Main Street Project and N'Dinawemak.
"We're now one of those places," said Blaikie Whitecloud, adding the change is also more just.
"We've had people in the past who were using substances and who are loving and caring and want to clean up after their neighbour, and people who are sober who are looking to create arguments," she said.
The shift is part of the faith-based organization's commitment to a new strategic plan announced last summer.
Blaikie Whitecloud said staff also began training under the new behavioural-based model, which is in line with best practices.
"We recognize that addiction comes from trauma and we recognize that the experience of homelessness itself is a trauma," she said
"Having accessibility to services, having a space where you feel safe and not judged is so crucial to people being able to begin their recovery journey."
Cautious optimism: resident
Normand Bedard has been living at Siloam Mission for a year and a half. He says it's not by choice, but he struggles with grief.
"I used to have a home. I had a loving wife. She died from cancer. And my life's been upside down ever since," he said.
He is cautiously optimistic about Siloam removing barriers.
"That's fine as long as people behave once they're inside. That's the problem is people are getting in, and then they're going into the bathrooms and doing things that we don't know. Then they come out and they're violent," he said.
Blaikie Whitecloud says it will still be illegal for people to use substances in the building. Everyone accessing Siloam has to follow a code of conduct based on being safe, respectful and focused on needs.
If there's a behavioural breach, staff work with the person through a restorative justice process, so they have a break from using the service, but also have the option to eventually return.
Since January, Siloam Mission has had on-site security provided by Sabe Peace Walkers, a team whose members focus on Indigenous-led non-violent crisis interventions and who use a trauma-informed approach to de-escalation.
Since the behavioural-based entry model has been implemented gradually over the past year, there have actually been a significant reduction in violent incidents, Blaikie Whitecloud said in a Friday morning interview with CBC Manitoba's Information Radio.
"We are having amazing conversations with folks who for the first time are talking about, like, 'Hey, I'm hearing voices and maybe I need this type of support,' and we can start to do that resourcing."
Jamil Mahmood, Main Street Project's executive director, said the change is exciting to see.
"I think it'll allow them to provide better service to folks and meet people where they're at," he said.
While the shift may not have a huge impact on Main Street Project — which is "always full" — the organizations will still work closely together to help people find space, said Mahmood.
"Hopefully it gives people that want to stay there that maybe couldn't have in the past the opportunity to stay there ... I think it just makes it easier to give people more options and places to go when they need to."
Support for safe consumption
In January, Siloam Mission's board also adopted the stance of wanting to see a safe consumption site in Winnipeg, recognizing the specialization of Sunshine House's Mobile Overdose Prevention site in providing the service already.
"We understand that people who are using substances are somebody's loved one. And until we resource them appropriately, we are risking their life every day," said Blaikie Whitecloud.
Last year, Blaikie Whitecloud said staff at Siloam Mission responded to 80 drug toxicity events.
She said at all house, staff with drug intervention training have access to naloxone, and are often responding before paramedics arrive, but they're still calling paramedics a lot.
"We've lost people that we serve here, and that we care about, to drug poisonings that could have been prevented by drug testing. We've lost people to drug poisonings that could have been prevented if they had a safer place to use those substances," Blaikie Whitecloud said.
Mahmood said the number of overdose reversals at Main Street Project and its spaces are higher than Siloam's — in excess of two a week — not including its housing programs and van outreach where numbers are also "very high."
"In the absence of a safe consumption site, shelters today operate as safe consumption sites without the adequate resources and public health aspects," said Blaikie Whitecloud.
She said one theologian on the board summarized their philosophical shift best:
"You can't start someone's recovery journey if their heart's already stopped."
Blaikie Whitecloud says in the months ahead, the centre plans to open more cultural healing spaces, focus more on people transitioning to housing and improve its data collection methods.
Bedard looks forward to the day he won't have to rely on a shelter.
"They're all full by eight at night. And if you don't have a place to sleep now, you're scrambling," he said.
He said he's been getting stronger and plans to get a job and a home of his own by fall.
"At least I have somewhere to sleep and somewhere to eat, so I'm very grateful for that, and I volunteer every chance I get."
