{"id":1791,"date":"2019-05-30T11:09:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T15:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2019-05-30T11:09:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T15:09:08","slug":"new-blue-door-shelters-ceo-thinking-a-little-differently-about-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluedoor.ca\/new-blue-door-shelters-ceo-thinking-a-little-differently-about-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"New Blue Door CEO ‘thinking a little differently’ about homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘If we keep reacting to homelessness after it has happened, we will never prevent it from happening,’ Michael Braithwaite says<\/p>\n

Apr 2, 2019 6:00 PM by: Debora Kelly<\/p>\n

The new CEO of Blue Door wants to do things differently when it comes to taking on the issue of homelessness in York Region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we keep doing the same things over and over again, we will get the same results,\u201d Michael Braithwaite said. \u201cIf we keep reacting to homelessness after it has happened, we will never prevent it from happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, there is a need to provide emergency housing to the growing number of York Region residents experiencing homelessness, but there is an opportunity to also focus on prevention, he said.<\/p>\n

Blue Door<\/a>\u00a0provides safe and supportive emergency housing\u00a0and housing services and supports for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. There is a shelter located in Holland Landing near Bradford West Gwillimbury.<\/p>\n

Braithwaite is returning to York Region, where from 2010 to 2017 he was executive director of 360\u00b0kids, a non-profit that provides emergency housing, programs and services for young people in need.<\/p>\n

It is his most recent experience, as executive director at Raise the Roof, a Toronto-based national charity dedicated to providing long-term strategic solutions to homelessness, that affirms the importance of \u201cthinking a little differently and getting out ahead of homelessness, rather than reacting when someone becomes homeless”,\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n

Initiatives such as the existing partnership with York Region school boards that help\u00a0to identify young people at risk of homelessness are proving to have an impact, he said, as well as programs that increase affordable housing options.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to take on this challenge,\u201d Braithwaite added, saying he is eager to return to working at a \u201chands-on, grassroots\u201d level.<\/p>\n

The passion to make a difference with homelessness is close to his heart for \u201cvery personal\u201d reasons, too, he said. For decades, his sister was in and out of homelessness, from the age of 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing that I will not do for the cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wait list for affordable housing continues to grow and shelter beds in York Region are scant, given our population of 1.1 million people.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1982, Blue Door has seen first-hand the region\u2019s growing homelessness crisis at its three emergency housing locations, Leeder Place for families, Porter Place for men, and Kevin\u2019s Place for male youth.<\/p>\n

According to The Homeless Hub<\/a>, in 2016, 1,554 individuals used York Region emergency housing services. Of these, 239 were chronically homeless.<\/p>\n

The current number of beds are:<\/p>\n