Timmins taking pro-active approach to addictions and homelessness
City of Timmins officials said they want to help its community partners when it comes to negotiating with upper levels of government in addressing the high rates of homelessness and deaths from drug overdoses.
"We have a public health emergency on our hands here and having all hands on deck is important so we can move as swiftly as we can," said Dave Landers, chief administrative officer for the city of Timmins.
As Timmins moves ahead with implementing a 'Community Safety and Well-Being Plan' and establishing the 'Safe Health Site Timmins', one of the key people on the deck will be Meagan Baranyk, a woman with front-line experience who has been hired as the community strategies coordinator for the city.
"My main role to is basically to understand current services. There’s a lot of agencies in Timmins and every one is working so well, but it’s about blending them together and let’s work well and not as silos," said Baranyk.
"We see a lot of gaps in mandates that different service providers have and so people fall through the gaps … and so by helping agencies work together by making sure we identify need and bring services to bare where that need is we should be better served," added Landers.
Baranyk will coordinate with organizations such as the Porcupine Health Unit, Timmins and District Hospital and Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board and report back to the city.
Over the next six months, she said she's planning to design some key strategies.
"Timmins is very fortunate to have very strong collaborations so it’s really easy coming into this role knowing that we’re just coming together and we just have to work collaboratively to address the issues that we’re all facing in our city," said Baranyk.
Landers said he's excited for where this approach will take Timmins, especially longer-term, as it moves towards having more preventative and less responsive actions when it comes to addressing issues facing vulnerable people.
Correction
The original article stated Meagan Baranyk is a social worker in error. This has been corrected.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Ontario coroner to investigate death of man who suffered cardiac arrest while waiting in ER
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.