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Photo by Brian Thompson, Brantford Expositor

Outreach worker based at library will provide help to homeless, others in need

Michelle Ruby, Brantford Expositor

A community housing outreach worker stationed at the downtown library will help those who come in seeking solace. City council approved a one-year pilot project to hire the worker, who will report to the city’s housing and homelessness department. Money for the project will come from the library and from a social service relief fund, provided by the province to help protect vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Libraries are a place where anybody can walk in and change their life,” said Coun. Joshua Wall. “But it’s a bit of a lighthouse to the downtrodden who go in to get warm in the winter and cool off (in the summer). A worker can give them a hand up.”

Since 2010, the library has had a worker who provided help mainly to “at-risk” youth and marginalized children and their families.

The position, vacant since August, will now have a broader focus.

“The current needs of the library have shifted significantly since the position was created,” Kevin O’Hara, Brantford’s manager of housing stability, said in a report to city council. “Supporting young people remains a priority, however, vulnerable community members of all ages are in need of support within the library.”

O’Hara said library staff generally don’t have social service backgrounds but are being increasingly called upon to provide service to people who are homeless, and suffering from addiction and mental health issues.“The library recognized there was an emotional burden and it was problematic for their staff to respond to customers in crises,” said O’Hara.The housing outreach worker will provide people with short-term crisis intervention and connections to other community services, ongoing case management, training and education, and other supports.Services will be provided through the COVID-19 provincial shutdown because libraries are permitted to offer space for social services.If the one-year pilot is a success, the library has money in its budget to continue it in 2022, said O’Hara.

“You think, in a traditional sense, of a library providing books, but it goes way beyond that,” said Coun. John Utley. “For some it’s a safe haven, a place to find a little bit of comfort.”

Coun. Dan McCreary called the pilot program “a very progressive thing for the library to be doing.” He said the city is moving toward providing services “where people need them.”

Mayor Kevin Davis said it’s an other example of the innovative work being done by the library whose staff have been reaching out to seniors and others during the pandemic “to see how they’re doing.”