The average length of time that women stay in the emergency shelter system in Ottawa has decreased by six days due to the success of programs such as the TRY Supportive Housing Program.
The program is run by the YMCA-YWCA, is partly funded by the city and aims to support women who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Cheryl Davis, a participant in the program, says she can’t imagine what her life would be like without the help and support that the program has provided her.
“With the help of the TRY program, one, maybe two steps at a time, I’m getting back to where the old Cheryl used to be.
“This program saved my life and as we put emphasis on programs like TRY, we are going to be saving the lives of our mothers and our sisters and our brothers and ourselves,” Davis says.
Davis believes the staff and other participants are what make the program such a success.
Davis said the staff “just care, they absolutely care about every aspect of every participant’s life.”
“Participants themselves are absolutely wonderful, we’re all in the same boat, we all get it; sometimes it’s really hard to row that boat. Find a friend and they’ll help you row until you get your strength back,” she says.
Ottawa’s lack of affordable housing and support for women over 18 prompted the establishment of Phase One of the program in 2011 which included 22 rooms. Its early success enabled its expansion in 2012 to create a total of 43 rooms in Phase Two.
The TRY program, in combination with other programs, has reduced the average length of stay in emergency shelters from 55 to 49 days.
The program accommodates 43 women and acts as a stepping-stone between the emergency shelter system and independent living.
It allows participants to gain access to subsidized accommodation, crisis counselling, community resource information as well as support from fellow participants and staff.
So far, 72 women have participated in the program and 23 women have moved into permanent housing.
Mayor Jim Watson says he believes that there is a need for programs such as this because it has proven to have had a positive impact on women in Ottawa.
“Too many of our residents live paycheque to paycheque and if you lose your job, you put yourself at risk of being in a shelter or being on the street so it’s an opportunity for us to partner with the Y and put some dollars on the table and literally help save lives,” says Watson.
“This program to me has proved positive and the decision we made to invest $14 million in housing and homelessness prevention is working and it’s having a profound impact on individual women.”
On Sept. 13, Watson and Coun. Mark Taylor celebrated the success of the program with Deirdre Speers, president of the Ottawa YMCA-YWCA.
Speers says she believes that teamwork between the YMCA-YWCA and the council is essential to the TRY program’s success.
“Along with our TRY staff, our partners in the city play a key role in our success and really working together is what this is all about. Influencing positive changes in our community to make people feel healthy and well and contribute and empowering these remarkable women to achieve their life goals.”