Project 93 - Fredericton Homeless Shelters
This story is written in the words of the Fredericton Homeless Shelters.
Teddy has been known to us for a number of years. He is a regular, no issue with drugs, but he is not a well man. We have had him in and out of the Shelters for years. We have tried repeatedly to get him stabilized and with solid supports. Unfortunately, we never got to the point where we were able to give him all the support he needed until this past year.
Three significant things happened which lead to one massive change in his life.
1. We made a serious commitment to hold him irrespective of behaviour breakdowns
2. We hired a full time mental health counsellor for the Shelters
3. The FACT [Flexible Assertive Community Treatment] Team took him on as a client.
Those three elements all worked together to help Teddy stabilize and start to deal with his mental health issues.
As the months went by, we worked with him, and by we, I mean a team of about 6 people. Finally, we had him to a place where we were confident that he was ready. We started advocating for him to get housing. We looked carefully for the right place for him. Then in June, we found it. We and FACT advocated for him at the BNL [By Name List], we agreed to provide the outreach support for him at his apartment. He has been housed for months now, doing really well, he connects with the FACT team and he comes back to the Shelters for one on one sessions with our Counsellor.
After we got his apartment set up with furniture from our furniture bank, got his food and his household items all put away, he looked at our team and said “This is the first time I have had a home since 2006.”
That is why we keep doing what we do.
Project 93 from the Fredericton Homeless Shelters was the recipient of a 2021 Community Grant for their work in trying to achieve a 93% sustained housed rate.
Applications for the 2023 Community Grants are open from January 16th to February 28th. Click here to learn more.