Work is underway to transform a former banquet hall in Belleville, Ont., into a 22-hour-a-day support hub for some of the region’s most vulnerable residents.
“We are very, very excited,” said Vader, who manages The Bridge Integrated Care Hub, which is temporarily operating out of a warehouse while construction continues. “We can’t wait to be in a permanent space.”
It will be one of three pillars that make up the new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub for the area.
The second is an outreach team made up of mental health and addictions workers, along with paramedics who will provide service across the region. Twenty-two transitional housing units make up the final piece of the plan.
Those initiatives will be funded with $6.3 million annually from the province. That money has allowed The Hub to provide service 22 hours a day since November, doubling its previous hours of operation.