Years and Hearts Behind this Housing Success

In the fall GSS newsletter, we met ‘Sally’, the colorful client…

who was housed at Westmount after 25 years on the street. But what made the housing possible? It turns out that years of almost uncanny GSS staff connections and commitment were behind Sally finally finding a home.

For context, excerpt from the Fall, 2023 story: “Our client is both fiercely independent and visibly vulnerable. She is elderly, suffers from seizures, scoliosis and other health conditions. Despite these roadblocks, she has lived the past 25 years on the streets of our inner city.”

Sally was, indeed, a long-term Spady client. Jonelle Crooks worked at the GSS Shelter when she first met Sally in about 2015 and remembered Sally as a regular who enjoyed staying around in the mornings. Sally also became an SCS regular when that program started in 2018. In the meantime, Jonelle moved to Housing First and, for a while, lost touch with Sally.

COVID put an end to anything ‘regular’ and the GSS Shelter closed. Sally continued as an SCS client but did get transitional housing for about a year at the Sands Hotel. That’s where Crystal McCarthy-Nelson, now an SCS Recovery Coach, first met Sally. As a Housing Worker at the Sands, Crystal met regularly with Emily Hargrave, SCS Navigator, and Sally to explore any and all ideas for longer-term housing. Eventually, Sands’ requirements and Sally’s independence and health needs led to her losing that housing.

Time to Get Housed

Connections at SCS became even more important then. Andrew Wilson, Addiction Specialist, at Detox, remembered Sally being very angry at everyone after leaving the Sands. He’d seen Sally around the SCS for years and could see the relationships start to build. Those relationships were especially important because another winter was coming.

Those who knew Sally were afraid she’d lived on the street for so long, she’d continue to resist housing. Caylin Holtzman, SCS Recovery Coach, remembering Sally from the Boyle Street SCS six years ago, said that an added barrier was Sally feeling unworthy of more than temporary shelter. But her health issues and the kind heart under the sometimes rough exterior made her more and more vulnerable. At times, GSS staff literally went out into the community to find Sally and provide support and care. So, it was more and more urgent to get Sally housed before the winter.

Commitment and Connections

Fortunately, a network of committed staff who knew and cared for Sally seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Jonelle moved from Housing First into a Recovery Coach role at the SCS bringing her housing experience with her. Crystal was now at SCS as was Caylin with her Boyle Street background. Both had strong relationships with Sally. Brooklynn Hastey, now a Case Manager at Westmount, was working at SCS and Sally developed a special connection to her, referring to Brooklynn as her ‘niece’. New staff also became Sally supporters including Emily Hargrave, an SCS Recovery Coach working with Sally, and Dan Cardinal, then Admin Assistant at Detox, who helped Sally with food and enjoyed their friendly, teasing relationship.

All types of housing options were considered or explored including seniors’ complexes and even market housing with no positive result. An issue was Sally’s health. Her grand mal seizures, for example, meant added support was needed for someone to check in on her. Jonelle drew on her housing experience to complete a SPDAT for Sally and made ongoing housing referrals, especially to the new Westmount program which she regularly followed up because Westmount seemed like a particularly good fit.

Finally, a space was opened up at Westmount. And, finally, after many coaching sessions, Sally expressed interest. The coaching sessions covered multiple ‘what ifs’ of moving to Westmount and not being as close to her street family which included the SCS staff, and her long time physician, and pharmacist. Once Sally expressed that interest, no one wanted to give up and an appointment was set up.

But it still wasn’t easy. Caylin literally waited outside Sally’s tent to help her get to Westmount. Eventually, Emily joined her to provide more encouragement and support. Sally was still reluctant to make such a big change but decided she could just go to Westmount to sleep and maybe not actually live there. That was enough to at least get her to the Westmount appointment.

Welcome Home

It turned out vital, personal relationships like those at the downtown site were also there at Westmount. Brooklynn, Sally’s ‘niece’ from SCS now worked at Westmount along with Laura Ostapovich, Team Lead, who’d known Sally at the downtown site. And a friend of Sally’s was a Westmount resident.

The Westmount team knew about Sally’s background, shared the SCS and Detox values, and were ready to welcome her. Sally has flourished in the warmth and connections at Westmount. She didn’t just leave her things and head back downtown. The staff at the downtown site miss her but they are also delighted that Sally has a safe, secure home for the winter and beyond.

There were, literally, multiple people and years of effort and commitment behind this important housing success story. Andrew sums those years up: “This is a really fantastic example of how it’s supposed to go. Because there are no miracles, no people who are that troubled who can do it on their own. The only way that happens is when there’s a group of people who’ll just do the work and keep on doing it.”

Congratulations to all the GSS staff who just kept on doing the work and, in the process, changed and possibly saved Sally’s life.