Monday marks a travel day for Ronald Rich and his partner, John Tuinstra.
“I’m escorting Ron to Toronto, just to make sure he has a place to reside,” says Tuinstra. “We have the idea that, well, Toronto has 15,000 on the streets right now, so it could be an extension. It may take a couple of days before I get a place. “
Tuinstra says Rich is battling dementia and Parkinson’s disease and needs medical attention.
“I’m hopeful and so thankful that John is coming with me because that means a lot,” says Rich. “And he will take care of me in Toronto. For example, I don’t know how to get there. “
Read more:
Cleanup continues after the weekend’s windstorm hits Kingston, Ontario.
Home Base Housing (HBH) has provided the couple with bus tickets to make the trip.
While Kingston generally wouldn’t send a homeless person to another city, Rich’s options have become limited here.
“One of the things that we worry about sometimes is people with quite high levels of medical requirements who really should be in nursing homes and for the elderly, we believe, who end up on the streets and in the shelter system,” says the executive by HBH. director Tom Greening.
“We try to bring in those health services, but often it is not easy, it is not integrated, the flow is not good, and in this case we have a gentleman who found out that there are facilities in Toronto that provide medical services. to people in a refugee setting and has chosen that it is probably a better option for him in the long run. “
Read more:
New heating center to open in Kingston at the end of the month
Greening says that the housing options in Toronto are slightly better than in Kingston, especially because of the attention Rich requires.
“If we could hire the services of personal support workers within the shelter system, even sharing them between the different shelters in the city of Kingston, then it would be helpful,” says Greening.
“We could keep people in shelters or have people come to shelters and make people more successful staying there.”
He says that beyond Rich’s specific case, the biggest challenge in Kingston is the lack of affordable housing options.
“That, combined with the fact that the shelter system is at or near capacity,” says Greening. “Every day there is usually a bed or two available within the system, but we know that there are more people in need of shelter than there are beds available.
“So we are all struggling now to find other options.”
Read more:
KFL & A Public Health Implements Collection Limit Order Amid Rise in COVID-19
Greening says HBH is working with the city and other partners to do everything possible to find the right options for people.
Upon arrival in Toronto on Monday, Rich and Tuinstra ended up being turned away from Seaton House, the largest homeless shelter in the city.
Rich was hoping to acquire a space there because the facility has a floor specifically for people with medical needs.
The couple were told to take Rich to St. Michael Hospital, where workers assigned Rich a case manager.
Once Rich settles somewhere, Tuinstra plans to return to his makeshift home in Kingston.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca