The Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association and the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board are hosting Voices in the Wilderness: A Pan Northern-Ontario Homelessness Summit next month. The event, which is being held June 12-13, 2012 at Nipissing University, aims to find solutions of the issue of homelessness in the North.
The summit comes at an opportune time, as the release of Laurentian Universities Homelessness study a couple months ago shocked many Northern communities that didn’t realize the extent of their homelessness problems. Timmins was one such community. The results showed that Timmins has 720 people without homes, including 257 children under 15 years old.
The focus of the summit will not only be to reduce the high rates of homelessness, but to also explore prevention methods. The event will be attended by many interested in the housing and homelessness situation in the North, including mental health and addictions specialist, Ontario Works specialists, Social Housing specialists, and Native Friendship Centre representatives. Members of Timmins’ own Housing Committee are invited to attend.
