Frontline workers recognized for commitment to end homelessness

A unique Housing First program that has both a trauma support worker and a cultural and spiritual educator was recently recognized with a Leader of the Pack award at the 7 Cities Housing First Practitioners Workshop Awards and Reception.

Team Leader Janice M. Shirt, of the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society in Edmonton, accepted the award for her efforts in guiding her team in tackling the ongoing issue of homelessness.

“We put together a program that incorporates both these healing aspects in place for people because the belief is that trauma has made such an impact on Aboriginal people that they make up the majority of the homeless population in Edmonton,” said Shirt.

In 2006, 8,400 people in Alberta were considered homeless.
Since then the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness was put into action and the 7 Cities Housing First initiative created involving organizations from Grand Prairie, the municipality of Wood Buffalo, Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. Each municipality operates its Housing First initiative to meet its specific clientele but they also collaborate, support and learn from each other.

Jennifer Rideout, from the Centre of Hope, in Fort McMurray, was the recipient in the Ho(u)ser Award category, which recognizes those who are constantly housing individuals at a high rate or are able to sustain clients’ housing. Currently she has 52 clients, many of whom reside in two trailers that hold 17 rooms, and the majority live in private markets.

“Landlords are very open and honest and the clients are ready to move forward, so the partnership that we have with the community and Wood Buffalo are very important,” Rideout said.

“People take on very specific responsibilities for supporting somebody. It calls on them to be innovative, be very committed, and work together as a team. Recognizing this is why frontline workers are held up and appreciated,” said 7 Cities Chair Susan McGee.

All 23 winners of the awards were dependent on their colleagues to nominate them and, according to McGee, the overall performance of teams supported the individual.

Individuals from each of the seven communities received awards in three categories:  Leader of the Pack, The Smooth Operator, and the Ho(u)ser. The Go-getter Award went to Brittany Davis with the Salvation Army, in Wood Buffalo; Data Diva or Dude recipient was Jilian Dowding with The Alex, in Calgary; and, the Enabler Award went to Angie’s Best Choice Property Management, in Medicine Hat.

When looking at the success of the initiative on a provincial scale, McGee says, Alberta is a leader in implementing goals. It is the only province to adopt a plan to end homelessness and to date has successfully helped 6,000 people within the seven cities.

“We’ve done this in an incredibly short period of time. In five years we’ve transformed the way we work and developed teams that have real capacity,” she said.

Continuous collaborations, maintaining a strong focus on the tasks at hand and launching an online learning resource for the teams, says McGee, are in the near future.

Photo caption: Leader of the Pack award winners: (from left) Carrie Bartsh, Ashlynne Vanbuuren, Carrie Menzies, Stacey Carmichael, and Arianna Johnson.