‘You feel like family’: Downtown drop-in fills gaps for Hamilton homeless

Mike Halloran explains why he drew a heart on the door of 78 Vine St., a plain, low-slung, brick building downtown.

Because when you're here, you feel like family."

Here is The Hub, a volunteer-run, drop-in space for people whose lives revolve around the street during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Inside, people who are homeless or precariously housed can find a hot cup of coffee and a sandwich from 5-9 p.m. There are winter coats, boots, sleeping bags and hygiene kits.

Before 78 Vine St., which is behind the Salvation Army men's shelter on York Boulevard, the drop-in operated at New Vision United Church by the MacNab bus terminal.

That's where Halloran learned about it. He was sleeping in an alley that runs along the side of the church.

I was trying to go to a place where I could get blankets, food - just stay alive."

That connection sparked his rebound into housing after two years of homelessness. It's also how he met his girlfriend, who has helped him.

I ended up getting myself clean and getting myself off the streets."

Now Halloran, 34, frequents the Vine location, where he lends a hand to Jennifer Bonner, the volunteer-in-chief he and others call Mom."

In early December, Bonner and the crew moved to the more spacious Vine Street location offered for free by nearby Philpott Church and supported with $65,000 in provincial pandemic-relief funds.

Anywhere from 65 to 110 masked visitors screened at the door for coronavirus symptoms drop by The Hub on any given evening. Some live in tents. Others unwind here before checking into a shelter bed for the night.

Apart from supplies to survive on the street, The Hub offers human connection, whether it's with Bonner, a McMaster medical student, a peer, doctor or housing worker.

A lot of these folks are off the grid. They're not connected to services anywhere," said Bonner, an accountant with a background in child and youth work, harm reduction and addiction studies.

We have these people for four hours a night, so you're really getting to the heart of what the issue is for them," she added.

At its rudimentary level, homelessness should be simple to crack. People need housing they can afford. But it can come with a host of complexities like mental illness, addiction and trauma.

It's in this vein that Bonner speaks of notching small victories on a road to big triumphs.

For instance, one man battling addiction was having a terrible day when Bonner sat down with him. It turned out it was his son's birthday and he didn't have a way to reach him. So they set up a Skype call.

He was in tears. It creates a bond for me and the opportunity that when he needs the next little thing, or the big thing, he's probably going to come back to me."

Bonner mentions a homeless couple who has survived for two years without social assistance. They basically get by on scrap metal and recycling cans."

It took some time, but two weeks ago, she managed to help them get the paperwork together for Ontario Works. So they now actually get supports ... It's a start."

Bonner credits The Hub's success to strong ties with Wesley Urban Ministries, and the Social Navigator, a collaboration between police and paramedics that aims to connect homeless people to services.

The Hub also pools resources with harm-reduction group Keeping Six and works with Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team doctors.

It's a really strong collaboration," Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk said, noting patients must consent to having various parties involved in their care.

The team effort has helped people move toward housing and improve their health, Wiwcharuk said.

They're doing some really great things," she said. I've had folks, who in the moment, were in dire need of a winter jacket, and they could literally just walk over there and go shopping in the closet."

And crucially, during a renewed pandemic lockdown, The Hub provides a washroom for homeless people with the usual options in downtown establishments all but off-limits.

So these places are even more important," Wiwcharuk says, adding St. Patrick Parish on King Street East and Victoria Avenue, will soon reboot its rest and hygiene space.

Wiwcharuk, who spearheaded respite projects in downtown churches when the pandemic hit, connected Bonner with Philpott's lead pastor, Rev. Russell Bartlett.

That introduction was made, Bartlett recalls, as he and Wiwcharuk arranged medical care for people sleeping on the steps of the church, which is next to the Salvation Army.

We just felt it's something that we, as a church, have been praying about: how we can better serve and help respond to the needs?"

Bonner is grateful for the response, and the word is spreading as the temperature dips and pandemic drags on. They keep coming, and the numbers just keep getting bigger and bigger."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com