While social service agencies provide outreach from offices in Haliburton County, dedicated spaces to help people facing complex challenges, such as poverty, homelessness, and addiction, are missing, the 2025 Haliburton County Housing Summit heard last week.
Christina Alden of the John Howard Society of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton was one of the speakers in a ‘reaching out and raising up’ panel. Alden works in the Minden office.
“I hand out sleeping bags, tents, clothing; anything else (clients) may need that we have available at the time. I offer a place to heat up the (SIRCH) meals we give out, charge their phones or tablet, and use WiFi, distribute harm reduction supplies, naloxone kits and training.”
Alden also does outreach, including to housing units. She said when people get used to workers coming on a regular basis, they are more likely to open up and ask for help. ‘Alden said people are living in tents and couch surfing. They may need help getting ID, which is crucial to accessing health care or housing to provide stability. A lot of this work is done at the Minden courthouse.
“Even with all this work, and all of the different services providing outreach … one of the biggest needs we see is for a dedicated space in each community; a place where someone can not only access our services, but also have a meal, take a shower, and do their laundry. These are basic needs that restore dignity, build trust, and make it possible for people to take the next step forward, like employment, so they can afford food, clothing and proper shelter.” Alden said.
She noted the John Howard Society is working on that in Lindsay now, “so it would be awesome if we could have that in Haliburton County, too.”
Donna Matthews is with the Eagle Lake Church ladies, who provide food to people on Highland Street in downtown Haliburton.
“Last winter was so cold; we worked outside of my car with no warming area or no washroom facilities. With the cold, there’s little or no time for them to chat and sometimes they won’t even come up because they’re just so cold. They go in for what they need, and away they go. So that is not working,” Matthews said.
She added they looked into renting a space with a small kitchen, washroom and warming area but the cost was “way above our means to support.
“Haliburton is high needs, but low resources. We could be more effective if we had a physical space where we could go in, they could be warm for an hour, use the washroom, wash your face, brush your teeth, sit and have a conversation.
They need to have a space that is warm, welcoming, friendly and safe to come to.”
David Barkley, of Coming Full Circle (CMHA HKPR), said his peer support outreach encourages people to attend dropins. “It’s important to have a safe space for people to come in and feel like it’s okay to do that and to connect.”
During her talk, Sue Tiffin, director of community outreach for the County of Haliburton, noted how the Highlands does not have a shelter for men or a shelter for homeless in general. The closest is in Lindsay.
Others speakers included: Brenda Manser with Housing First, Haliburton Highlands Health Services; Chris Parish, commander of the Haliburton County Community Paramedics; and Joel Imbeau of the Haliburton Highlands OPP mobile crisis response team.
