One home at a time: Salus’ new condo program is a bridge between being in the hospital and independent living

Acknowledged widely as a cutting-edge approach to recovery support, Salus’ existing Rehabilitation Programs that include our Forensic Supportive Housing Program (FSHP) and our Transitional Rehabilitation Housing Program (TRHP) both work to provide intensive support to adults recovering from mental illness, while living in a neighbourhood setting.

This innovative approach aims to adapt programs to clients, as opposed to clients adapting to programs and in doing so, we remove barriers to community integration. These two specialized programs have proven to be a highly effective approach that supports people who are leaving mental health hospitals and having difficulty accessing mental health services.

The success of FHSP/TRHP, much like the evidenced-based Housing First model, requires a good supply of affordable housing, strong relationships with landlords and implementation of mental health support, which can be significant challenges in tight rental markets.

In order to better support our partner hospitals and grow our capacity in the number of tenants coming from the hospital system that we can house and support, Salus is implementing a new condominium program. With community support, our program goal over the next five years, is to acquire and rent ten one-bedroom condominium units across Ottawa, for clients of the FHSP/TRHP programs.

As an organization well versed in both its landlord and support roles, we follow the evidenced-based Housing First approach to this condominium program. The main program benefits are the removal of barriers to housing, anonymity for our clients, increased flexibility for FHSP/TRHP’s to serve gender diverse individuals and women (our existing FSHP can only house men), and to address the lack of affordable rental housing in Ottawa.

We are thrilled to share with you that thanks to past donor support and funding from the government, we have one condo purchased already, with two more successful bids awaiting inspection. This inspiring new program will help to provide one home at a time for people leaving the mental health hospital system and requiring intensive mental health support, all while integrating into the community.

If you would like to learn more about our plans for Salus’ condo program or if you’re interested in supporting this initiative, please contact Heather Brown, Senior Manager of Philanthropy at Salus at hbrown@salusottawa.org.