July 1, 2009, Canadian Funding Corp, Halifax, Nova Scotia – Sometimes, as Canadian Funding Corporation makes plain, the element that nurtures an affordable housing project towards success depends on what resources are brought together. This was demonstrated in Halifax, where a community of unlimited opportunity was created for people with serious or recurring mental illness.
Canadian Funding Corporation is entranced by how Connections Clubhouse evolved through discussions with the Halifax Metropolitan Regional Housing Authority (MRHA) and the Capital District Health Authority about the needs of people living with mental illness. What emerged was a need for connections–connections with existing housing resources, with MRHA staff, with community support and development programs and with each other.
Connections Clubhouse works with its members and community partners to help people get the support they need to find homes. The concepts behind the Clubhouse Community Outreach and Housing Program are housing spread throughout the community; providing flexible individualized supports; consumer choice; assistance in locating and maintaining housing; unrestricted length of tenure in the residence; and community based peer support.
Connections Clubhouse members define their own housing needs. This individualized planning contributes to greater housing satisfaction, stability and longevity. Members’ housing choices are not limited by previous classifications or identified disabilities; members have the right to try the most independent option they wish, with flexibility to try a variety of options and possibilities.
Support services include crisis prevention and interventions, peer support, delivery of medication, access to a respite apartment and psychiatric support. What is essential to the creation of a community is the active involvement of its members, who are empowered to design and implement support networks, advocate for the program and serve as mentors for other members, either directly or through a Clubhouse-sponsored chat line. A number of other initiatives are run by Clubhouse members as part of the Community Outreach and Housing Program:
- Gung Ho, a co-operative convenience store;
- visits to members who are in hospital or isolated at home;
- Neighbourhood Networks, which provides opportunities for members with common interests to get together; and
- a furniture and recycling store.
With 42 MRHA social-housing units, and three apartments as a base for support services, the Connections Clubhouse members now have a safer and stable base for personal growth and community involvement. Clubhouse members report that the housing program has helped give people peace of mind, greater independence and opportunities for employment, as well as stable mental health and a better outlook on life.
And so it goes, as Canadian Funding Corp observes, Connections Clubhouse contributes to the larger community by reducing hospitalization time and opening opportunities for members to find housing and employment of their own– an “everybody wins” approach that brought Connections Clubhouse a CMHC Housing Award in 2006 for best practices in affordable housing.