Communities nationwide are facing a housing and homelessness crisis, and Ottawa is no exception. For people living with a mental health issue, there’s an extra hurdle to jump because there isn’t enough housing with mental health support. This means many people stay in hospital longer than they would need to if they had supportive housing or leave hospital only to see their mental health decline in the absence of support.
Meanwhile, roughly half of unhoused people in Canada are living with mental illness.
“We can’t separate conversations about mental health from those about housing,” says Joanne Bezzubetz, president and CEO of The Royal.
“We felt the need to raise the profile of this issue and advocate for greater awareness of the issue, and meaningful investments in supportive housing for people living with mental illness.”
Within these advocacy efforts, The Royal underscored the issue to elected officials, published a statement on the need for supportive housing, amplified the work of our community partners, and facilitated an important public conversation about evidence-based supportive housing.
The case for supportive housing
Housing with mental health support is an evidence-based investment that changes lives. At Home/Chez Soi, a four-year study in five Canadian cities, clearly demonstrated that housing with mental health supports works to end homelessness and transform lives. It also showed that it’s a sound investment — over a period of two years, the study found that every $10 spent on housing saved taxpayers $21.72. It improves outcomes for people living with mental illness in numerous domains — including their symptoms, community involvement, and overall quality of life.
The Royal partnered with Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa in endorsing and amplifying their #StartsWithHome campaign to advocate for increased access to affordable housing in Ottawa. Through social media content that garnered 19,000 impressions, we drove traffic to the campaign and highlighted the issues of supportive housing through storytelling. This included sharing a video and article featuring Anita Manley, a mental health advocate, volunteer, and member of The Royal’s board of trustees. Her lived expertise lent a powerful voice to the need for supportive housing.
“It’s significant to have the weight of The Royal’s leadership focused on advocacy in this way,” says Kaite Burkholder Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa. “We look forward to partnering together more.”
Making space for a public discussion
The Royal’s Under the Lens conversation series is a space for an in-depth look at critical issues that aren’t discussed enough. On March 9, 2022, the event focused on mental health and housing. Bezzubetz facilitated a virtual conversation between community partners and experts, including representatives from the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, The Royal, the Youth Services Bureau, Anita Manley, and Dr. Tim Aubry, a researcher at University of Ottawa.
The discussion was collaborative and invigorating, with 116 individuals representing numerous organizations and areas of expertise participating.
“The need for supportive housing is ongoing, and we will continue our efforts to advocate for it at every level,” says Bezzubetz. “We will continue to work with our community partners and use our voice and reputation to make it loud and clear that housing with mental health supports saves and improves lives.”
