Homelessness consultation wraps up in Sudbury. Now what?

Now that Greater Sudbury has wrapped up its consultation process on homelessness in the city, those details must all be compiled into a final report.

The problem of homelessness has worsened over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people are finding themselves without housing, and social service agencies have had to alter programs and services.

Last week two different input sessions were held so city council could hear from service providers and those with lived experience of homelessness. The presenters voiced their concerns, told personal stories and offered suggestions to better improve support for individuals needing help.

The online portion of Sudbury's consultation process wrapped up this past weekend.

There were more than 400 comments on homelessness submitted through the city's online portal, says Gail Spencer, coordinator of shelters and homelessness programs.

Paper copies of the survey were also distributed locally at shelters and warming centres.

"A lot of the information that came forward are barriers and gaps that we do know are present within our system in terms of affordability, in terms of lack of income, and in terms of being able to work together as services," Spencer said in reference to the virtual presentations last week.

"There were a lot of excellent suggestions and things that we've worked on and considered in the past and people also brought forward suggestions that were out of the box, unique and creative."

Compiling data for final report

Now everything from the consultation will be compiled into one final report. Spencer says that will be presented to Sudbury city council in March.

"We will identify some of the key themes and the recommendations that came from the consultation process, and many of them are very similar in style and situation," she said.

There are already several themes emerging from the responses. 

"So far what we're hearing are things about shelters and basic needs, we're hearing about addictions and supports during the opioid crisis; we're hearing a lot about affordable housing and availability of housing, and we're hearing about how governance and people are working together," Spencer said.

It will be up to Sudbury city council to decide how to move forward.

Spencer says that although there is a large group of service providers working together to provide services to the local vulnerable population, it's really an entire community that must come together to address these complex issues.

"It was really great to see so many caring people coming forward to say this is really important to them and we have to take care of it."