Community Safety and Well-Being Plan

A safe community includes economic safety for marginalized and at-risk people and works to create affordable housing options.

The safety of a community has to include options for people experiencing homelessness, substance addiction, navigating disability, or any of life's other disrupting factors that can compound and put people in dangerous or precarious situations.

A safe community has meaningful access to services other than policing, especially for mental health issues.

A safe community has access to crisis counselling, counsellors and professionals without hopelessly long waitlists, temporary and longer-term interventions such as respite centres, and ways for people to get assistance that do not always involve calling police.

Knowing your neighbours.

Accessibility to resources- physical and financial

safety/well-being in community = housing + mental health for all, end racism/violence, more public art/cultural events & green/clean space

Change how the police are funded

The police have become the one stop shop for every social issue which doesn't make sense. If the city and anchor institutions refuse to consider defunding the police then at least change how the money is used to better train the police on being better able to work with racialized/queer/low income/disabled people. Hire crisis workers through the police budget. Do more friendly, community policing.

hate needs to be taken seriously in all forms. mandatory equity and anti-oppression training for all city employees (especially police)

Uphold higher standards for leadership

Leaders of our community need to be empowered to uphold a standard of social inclusion and to take a stand against hate whenever they see it. They also need to be held accountable when they do not model a spirit of inclusivity and equity. Hate has no place in Hamilton, and hate crimes need to be addressed by our city, not just buried.

Ensure a diverse government

Our government should accurately reflect those in the community to be able to speak to inequities and hate incidents of specific groups.

Punishment for the Crime

Stricter measures to be put in place for all people in government, city, or community leadership as to what is a hate crime and what will happen if one is committed with fast and strict measures if one is committed.

Stricter Courts?? Answer isn't easy!

I was extremely upset, to put it mildly, when a week ago a Resident Dr. @ a Hamilton Hospital said that he was afraid to bring his young family to live with him in Hamilton due to the high crime rate in Hamilton! He hasn't been with them since June/20, how extremely sad is that! He thought that they were safer in USA!!! I was so shocked & that was such an emotionally upsetting thing to hear! I mentioned some areas that appear to be safer ie. Stoney Creek, Waterdown, Ancaster, Hamilton Mtn. etc.! The Hamilton I grew up in used to be such a safe place!! I don't know the solution really wish that I did!

Offer City resources to support the growth of Restorative Justice programs in Hamilton

Offer start-up grants, office space or whatever is needed by those who would offer RJ programs. Review the leadership of Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and Community Justice Initiatives and seek their guidance on emulating their work in Hamilton.

Mental health care, harm reduction services, income supports and affordable, supportive housing

Have more in-depth free mental health care for those committing violent crimes. Have early interventions and counselling for perpetrators and victims of domestic violence. Offer harm reduction services for this with substance use disorders. Get people into appropriate affordable housing. Lift people out of poverty by advocating to increase minimum wage Ontario works and ODSP rates. .

Better collaboration and community support to reduce recidivism

We can do better to support people coming out of correctional institutions to support them with housing, income security, employment and addictions concerns. This will reduce recidivism and give the whole community hope.

Abolish prisons and increase social supports and rehabilitation

Advocation and Awareness

More awareness about the types of mental health disorders that people can have and where they are able to get help. Awareness to end the stigma around all types of mental health disorders and to encourage people who may need help to seek it.

We need to rethink ways to get treatment to those who need it but are deemed competent. Legislative changes and different, firm approaches.

Supportive housing

Continue increasing resources made available for the development of new supportive housing every year. Dramatically increase resources available to CityHousing Hamilton to ensure all units are of good quality so tenants feel dignified not stigmatized.

Indoor winter walking wellness- Covid safe

Create a partnership with Cadillac Fairview to open the malls Limeridge and Eastgate for indoor walking safety for seniors and infirm and physically challenged persons. They would need floor cleaners salary subsidized. One way path and 8 foot spacing meet PH standards. Perhaps the businesses will want to advertise on their windows and appreciate the exposure. City of Hamilton Wellness programs and Rec can operate the walking program. Winter cold and unsafe icy paths make exercise difficult for those with accessibility issues and chronic disease. It would also provide an excellent central local to share info for vaccine, and covid tracing.

Police should not attempt a mental health related interaction without the presence of a medical professional.

Police officers are trained to ensure the public's compliance through escalating threats and application of violence. These escalation based methods often do not work well with someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Where there are reasonable grounds to suspect someone is undergoing a mental health crisis, the police should avoid interaction until a qualified medical professional is on the scene.

make it mandatory for developers to have to include a percentage of apartments or condos to be affordable to lower income

When we know the reason for the homelessness (mental health, abuse, addiction, etc) can we provide mobile supports and basic accommodations.

Most people would not choose to be homeless

Update bylaws and allow/sustain encampments

We do not have enough affordable housing in the city. Encampments are a natural outcome. We cannot keep destroying people's attempts at surviving when shelters are constantly at capacity. We need to update bylaws to allow affordable housing asap and allow and support existing encampments.

Make it possible to live without a car

Owning a car carries costs to the city, and individual. Make it possible to live without one by investing in transit and active transportation and eliminate minimum parking requirements for multi-tenant housing.

Improve transit and make city employees work remotely to reduce demand for parking downtown, build affordable housing instead of parking.

With more extensive and long term remote work policies, land that is currently used for parking could be used for affordable housing downtown, where many social support services would already be in walking distance.

Transit schedules that connect you to jobs

Hamilton has a lot of good jobs just not accessible by bus or practical by bus Invest in transit to make it easier to get to work. A lot of buses don't connect. and you spend a lot of your commute time waiting for buses. It's impossible to plan a trip in the east end where buses actually connect . you end up waiting half hour+ because the bus your on, missed the connect bus by 2 mins . After working 12hrs and its -20 i cant explain the stress.

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

The research was being done and everything points to UBI being beneficial for society as whole. Implement it and it will help a lot of the issues that you're trying to address with this engagement.

Interim support for those who ‘fall through the cracks.’

Many people cannot access existing income supports at federal and provincial levels because they do not qualify, have used up their entitlements, are waiting long timeframes for decisions to be reached, or do not have the tools to navigate complex processes. The city needs to make interim income and social support available so people do not fall through the cracks and have to face eviction, hunger, family separation or unnecessary hardships.

Connect individuals to valuable resources - "You don't know what you don't know”

Income - regular work, part-time work, gig work, EI, social services, etc - how do we help get access to the right supports when that income is gone? It is often difficult to access financial supports when a job is lost, benefits end, families separate, or illness occurs. Just telling someone to apply for EI, OSAP, job retraining, ODSP or Ontario Works isn’t always enough. Not everyone qualifies, and sometimes we need to do more than just point, or tell someone to look at an unclear website, but instead EXPLAIN why and how. Some individuals or families are just past the cut-off threshold for support yet are struggling to pay for their home, food or transportation. Then what? What happens when individuals are unsure of WHAT questions to ask or WHO to ask to get access to a resource or service. Anyone can fall through the cracks because someone tells them NO and they don't know where to go next. This applies to youth and adults of all ages; educated or not, experienced or not - if someone tells you No, how many people just stop in their tracks? Then add in barriers. If individuals do not have family or community supports, do not feel safe, struggle with physical or mental health challenges, feel marginalized or racialized, will they push forward or feel that no one will listen? Why make individuals work so hard just to get the information they need? Most would help a friend learn about resources when they ask, so why not help our community? Create a "Resource Person" role within our city to help guide all individuals to the services they need. Make the role accessible virtually, over the phone or in person. This is not a social services worker or reception role, but a person who can actively assist individuals to learn how to access resources or services. We also need to consider how much work or how many "clicks" it takes to access a resource, and if it is accessible or clear to everyone. By providing a clearer path we can help individuals get to where they WANT to be, not where they end up.

Accessibility

Jobs are in Hamilton and there are a lot of jobs that are to be had however people's way of getting there may not be so good. if there was better access to public transportation and/or other ways to get to places in the city, more jobs may be had creating more stimulating in the Hamilton economy and more money for everyone.