Outreach team searches for further funding to help addicts in Nanaimo

A year after the province announced it would fund a $1.6-million team
of outreach workers in Nanaimo, the group continues to operate
without rental subsidies that helped make similar teams in Victoria a success.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority secured provincial funding last
year to set up a 13-member Assertive Community Treatment, which
includes nurses, social workers and a psychiatrist, to provide a more
intense level of services for those struggling with addiction or
mental illness. ACT teams have been hailed as a success in tackling
social issues in Victoria, which now has four such groups.

But because Nanaimo's ACT team is funded directly from the province,
as opposed to being included in VIHA's overall budget as with the
Victoria teams, it doesn't have access to rental subsidies provided
from B.C. Housing, said Norma Winsper, co-ordinator of the local ACT team.

Psychiatrist Dr. Ian Musgrave, who brought the ACT team model to
Canada and now works in Victoria, previously told the Daily News that
this funding, which can provide people in need with an extra $200 per
month for rent, is vital to the success of these teams.

They help ensure clients can find a decent place to live so they can
start turning their lives around, he said.

"Then you're looking at a better quality of life, more food choices,
better opportunities," said Winsper.

The team has managed to come up with about $100 per month that
outreach workers could use to top up some clients' rent by tapping
into other parts of the overall budget for Nanaimo Mental Health and
Addictions Services, she added. But it's not enough.

Winsper has been working with provincial agencies and hopes some kind
of arrangement for more funding can be made.

B.C. Housing said the subsidies are available only to non-profit
agencies that may work with health authority programs, such as ACT
teams, but not health authorities directly. For example, the Canadian
Mental Health Association provides the Homeless Outreach Program in
Nanaimo and has access to about 20 rent subsidies.

But even without these funds, Winsper said the local ACT team has
been successful in helping people live more independently. It has an
active client list of 43 people already with a total goal of 85.