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Place to call his own key to staying sober

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 11/24/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Ronald Courchene, 34, says it’s tough to stay away from booze when he’s living on the street. ( BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Ronald Courchene has been down and out as he's battled alcohol and substance abuse.

But now he's hoping that a new national program for the homeless -- unveiled in five cities, including Winnipeg, on Monday -- will provide him with a place of his own, instead of the shelter he winds up in every night.

"I'd like to get a place where I can be my own boss, you know, instead of looking at authority and (them) telling me what to do and when to go to sleep and when to eat or when to smoke..." Courchene said Monday outside Thunderbird House on Main Street.

Inside, aboriginal leaders, academics, social agency staff and community activists attended the launch of a $110-million federal initiative aimed at studying the best ways to helping homeless people, such as Courchene, while providing a roof over the heads of some 1,300 people, including up to 300 in Winnipeg.

"They said they were going to get me a place but nothing has happened yet," said Courchene, a 34-year-old aboriginal man, who got wind of the new At Home/Chez Soi program and wanted to know if he could take advantage of it. The project is being co-ordinated by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

Instead of the system providing homeless people with their own place after they've completed counselling or addiction programs, as is the case with Courchene, officials are testing the idea of providing the home first and then the programming.

"I'm really trying hard to stay straight and what not, but it's a difficult task... Sometimes I slip and I fall into that pothole, and I get high and, you know, get drunk." Courchene said. "People are under the influence because they got nowhere to go."

Despite wanting in on the new program, Courchene won't necessarily get one of the 300 housing spots available. Because the project is part of a scientific study, participants will be chosen at random from a set group. There will also be an equal number of people in a control group, who will receive treatment and support in the normal way.

The Winnipeg segment of the project is unique because it will deal exclusively with homeless aboriginals. And the services and treatment programs they receive will reflect First Nations culture.

Marcia Thomson, a career provincial civil servant, will be the Winnipeg co-ordinator for the national project, which is also being carried out in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Moncton, N.B.

"We already have 30 units of housing available, so we think we're well on our way to housing over 300 people by (in 2013)," she said.

While public and not-for-profit housing will be used, the bulk of the living spaces will come from private landlords, who will receive a cash subsidy of up to $200 per unit per month, plus staff supports, for renting to street people, Thomson said.

Participants will get a furnished unit and help adjusting to tenant life. At the same time, they will receive treatment for substance abuse or mental illness. A worker will visit at least once a week.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

300

Number of homeless aboriginal people who will receive a home in Winnipeg under a new federal initiative.

Estimated number of people living on the streets in Winnipeg, with another 1,900 using short-term or crisis shelters.

Percentage of homeless people who are aboriginal.

110 million

Amount of money Ottawa committed to fund the Mental Health Commission of Canada's research project on homeless people.

Percentage of funds that will go into direct services and supports to homeless people participating in the study.

Number of new housing units lined up so far in Winnipeg for homeless people to move into.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 24, 2009 A4

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