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To support residents living in Windsor neighbourhoods with higher rates of mental health crises, addiction, and homelessness, a community partnership has created safety plans to help navigate challenges encountered on the street.
The Neighbourhood Safety Plans, tailored based on community feedback for each of the four high-priority areas — downtown (N9A), South Central (N8X), Walkerville and East Windsor (N8Y), and South Walkerville (N8W) — are now accessible online and at certain public locations.
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“There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the issues facing our community,” said Windsor Police Chief Jason Bellaire at a media event held Wednesday morning at Wigle Park.
“The available resources teach residents exactly what to do and who to call in a crisis and equips them with the tools and knowledge to support healthy communities.”
The safety plans were created by the Substance Supports in Neighbourhoods Accessed through Police Partnerships (SSNAPP) team, a partnership with the Windsor Police Service, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, and the City of Windsor.
Each plan provides how-to steps for residents responding to mental health and substance use crises in their neighbourhoods, as well as other situations, including harassment, conflict, discrimination and vandalism.
“We get questions all the time about, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ or ‘How am I supposed to address the issues that we’re seeing in our neighborhoods?’,” said Windsor-Essex County Health Unit CEO Ken Blanchette.
“Access to information, and access to what you should know and what you can do to help these individuals is going to have a significant impact.”
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Over the last couple of years, the SSNAPP team hosted 27 community workshops that collected feedback from more than 500 Windsor residents.
The input helped shape each safety plan. For instance, downtown residents expressed particular concern about public urination, said Celine Damphouse, program coordinator at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
The SSNAPP team is supported by a $1.5-million community safety and policing grant that launched in January 2022, and will run until next March. However, Blanchette said the local partnership is looking for ways to continue the initiative, regardless of external funding.
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“This initiative is complementary to the City of Windsor’s Strengthen the Core initiative,” said Ward 4 Coun. Mark McKenzie on Wednesday, “which was launched earlier this year with the common goal of addressing those root causes of safety concerns by supporting residents, providing residents with those tools to empower themselves and their neighbours, which ultimately keeps neighbourhoods safe.”
Residents can download the safety plans online at ssnapp.ca or find them posted at various public locations.
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