Over 100 people have now used the Safe Beds program in Windsor since it moved to a 24-hour service in Fall 2022.
The program was first launched by the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex County Branch in February 2020.
It's designed to help divert individuals experiencing homelessness, mental health or addiction crisis from the justice system, incarceration, and unnecessary hospitalization by providing short-term accommodations and crisis support.
Zoey Azlen, Safe Beds Program Supervisor, says while people are in the program they work on a multitude of issues.
"On the mental health addictions piece, we have an addictions support worker that is here who provides one-to-one and group support," she says. "We also have residential support workers who are connecting people to a multitude of services in the community, connecting people to financial support and getting their ID."
Those referred to the home must be experiencing homelessness and able to be safely supported in a residential setting.
A maximum stay at in the program for any individual is for 30 days. The goal is to stabilize the initial crisis, connect individuals to community supports, and secure a stable housing option by their date of discharge.
A room inside the Safe Beds Program building at 354 Aylmer Ave. in Windsor. (Photo: Rob Hindi)
Azle says the intensive care they provide is critical to break the cycles or patterns some people experience.
"Everyone has a variety of different needs. So here we're able to identify that and really work on that, and give people the space and stability to work on that," she says. "I was talking to an individual yesterday who said that was what their favourite part of Safe Beds was, is that they were able to get that intensive care and that they weren't slipping through cracks."
Safe Beds also provides police with an option for assisting those in crisis or who are homeless.
Azlen says a lot of their referrals come from Windsor police.
"We are busy, we are full. When we lose someone in the program, someone else comes in really quick. Police are quick to pick that up," she adds.
Located in the downtown core at 354 Aylmer Ave., the program offers four beds and housing supports.
Males and females over the age of 16 are eligible to be referred by police.
Individuals entering the Safe Beds Program work with an addiction specialist, peer support worker, and residential support workers to stabilize the initial crisis, develop goals regarding mental health, addiction, and housing, and connect to community supports to ensure continued care after Safe Beds.
With files from Rob Hindi