“I’m happy we’re still able to provide people with a way out of the shelter, even with COVID happening.”

Elizabeth Mabie
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

For more than a century, the Ottawa Mission has served the city’s homeless. In May, they celebrated the first anniversary of a new department dedicated exclusively to helping clients find affordable housing.

“We asked ourselves, ‘How can we really distinguish ourselves? How can we expand our housing?’” explains Marc Gallant, Manager of Housing Services at the Mission.

Gallant has worked at the Ottawa Mission since 2006. After a few years managing the Mission’s client services, he felt housing was an area that needed dedicated staff with a singular focus. The Housing Services Department now has eight staff members who help men in need find a home of their own. Their premise is that having a place to live is a basic human right.

“It was a realization that it’s not just one silo of a department or one silo of staff that should be talking about housing,” says Gallant. “With the housing department’s creation, it allowed us to dedicate more time to what areas could be improved or advanced.”

“It’s really about reflecting Jesus’ love.” Photo courtesly of the Ottawa Mission.

Gallant says the department kept up a good momentum, despite being new, until the outbreak of COVID-19. Programming, agencies, and other external resources were forced to either reduce services or completely halt activity. Government restrictions led to dwindling offers for affordable housing and stay-home restrictions limited the help some staff could offer guests.

“We weren’t able to support as fully as before. We couldn’t bring them to house viewings, take them to the bank, or go with them to sign a lease. We had to do a lot of coaching and guiding for our people,” Gallant reveals.

Yet, from the beginning of the pandemic, the Mission managed to continue finding accommodations for their clients. Some months where tougher, but that did not stop staff members from doing what they could.

Gallant says they are trying to rebuild the momentum they had before COVID-19, especially with services reopening. Despite coaching from staff, some clients are still anxious about resuming their search or going out in public.

“I’m happy we’re still able to provide people with a way out of the shelter, even with COVID happening.” Photo courtesly of the Ottawa Mission.

“I’m happy we’re still able to provide people with a way out of the shelter, even with COVID happening,” says Gallant. “Some of our guests still aren’t comfortable viewing apartments alone, so that’s where our workers are trying to coach them, support them, and tell them the facts and realities of COVID.”

Even without COVID-19, homelessness is a traumatizing state. Gallant says a key way individuals and groups can make an impact is by showing compassion and understanding the bigger issues surrounding homelessness.

“It’s really about reflecting Jesus’ love, but we also try to help build [our guests] a wholesome life and help them see their value,” explains Gallant. “We try to empower them to create independence and support them through their tough times.”