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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.