"I feel safe."
Privacy and safety are what
Janine M. values most about living at 138 Pears Avenue. Before
moving to this innovative residence designed to support people from the
shelter system and transitional housing projects, as well as some low-income
tenants, "Life was pretty rough." The
53 year old, who admits to having suicidal thoughts during that
time, is one of 96 residents in the building.
Her journey to Pears was marked by unfortunate circumstances and bad timing. While caring for her dying mother, Janine required surgery and ended up living with her sister. When her money ran out, so did her sister’s generosity and Janine spent two months at Nellie’s shelter.
A worker at Nellie’s referred her to Pears, and she moved to the residence in April 2005. But the transition wasn’t easy. "It took me two months to even talk to anybody. I was trying to figure out who to trust. I was scared." Eventually, she overcame her fear and joined the community. "I got to know everybody when the summer came. Everyone was sitting outside and we started talking. We’ve had Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter dinners. And they have a community meal here every day." The Pears residents have worked together to landscape the building and have added new patio furniture and flower boxes.
"I like that I can lock the door and I feel safe. And [I like] having someone from FSA right downstairs everyday." FSA Toronto’s tenant coordinator is on site to support residents and build community. "[She] keeps people from fighting and makes sure that there’s no prejudice," says Janine. As a woman with fibromyalgia and osteoporosis, Janine also appreciates having a phone at Pears. "In the shelter you can’t get a phone call. It’s impossible for a doctor’s office to call you or a dentist or anybody. But here, because we have a phone and the answering service, we can make appointments and keep them."
When talking about the impact of Pears, Janine is frank and unwavering. "It is keeping a lot of people from dying… from suicide and from being out in the cold and in the elements."
A Partnership with Impact
Prologue: In 2004, 138 Pears Avenue was transformed from an abandoned hotel into an innovative housing project. Fifteen partner agencies refer homeless or hard-to-house individuals to Pears and are responsible for supporting their clients.
The Pears Avenue partnership is as unique as the housing model itself. In this, its third year, we decided to employ a self-assessment tool to measure the effectiveness of the partnership. The evaluation focused on the categories of synergy, leadership, efficiency, administration and management.
Twenty-one individuals representing 14 of the partner agencies completed the survey. Overall, respondents indicated that all aspects of the partnership are working well and that it is effective.
Each category scored 3.7 or greater on the five-point scale. Having sufficient non-financial resources (such as partner skills, access to data and connection to others) earned the highest score at 4.01. Overall synergy earned the lowest score at 3.69.
Many partners saw benefits to the collaboration:
"We are able to back each other [up] toward a common goal which is the client and his/her housing."
"I believe that putting partner agencies in charge of their own units makes them more committed to how the partnership works and its future."
"The decision-making process was founded on inclusiveness, full discussion and a facilitator at the coordination level who is very skilled. That has resulted in quite a smooth process!"
"The partnership has been an added value to my agency."
"There have been several opportunities for free staff and client training that are very useful and would not have occurred without the partnership. As well we have access to doctors, psychiatrists and other assessment and consultation services that we otherwise would not have access to."
Some more tentative comments included:
"The partnership comes together well and can solve complex issues and problems that are identified but someone needs to take the lead on issues and remind people to work together."
"The skills and resources are here. The time available, commitment and the priority assigned to the roles and responsibilities [of] each partner… varies from partner to partner."
Epilogue: According to the evaluation developer’s standard, the Pears evaluation scores indicate that the partnership is working but needs more effort to maximize its collaborative potential. The information in the report is being shared with partners to support ongoing learning and improvement.
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