Northern Light
Superstar
The Star has an article today focusing on the difference Dunn House is making, by looking into the life of one particular resident.
www.thestar.com
Jason Miles was an addict from early in life, but for a period of time, while gainfully employed, he managed a half-decent life; then he lost that job and things quickly spiraled downwards.
Addiction, overdoses, theft and other criminal behavior, in/out of hospitals, shelters and jail.
The Star who spoke w/him on the record and with access to some of his records.........estimated that he conservatively cost the 'system' $260,000 in his last year prior to moving in to Dunn House.
That including ER Visits, in-patient time in hospital, six months in shelters and time in jail, amongst other things. It doesn't include the damages to various properties as a result of his criminal conduct.
Subsequently, Mr. Miles has apparently turned his life around. He's been sober for many months now, has had no new brushes w/the law, has gone back to school to finish obtaining his HS diploma at the age of 43 and is hoping to be gainfully employed, possibly at UHN helping others like him.
The cost of housing him and supporting him over the last year, estimated at $48,000, not cheap, but a whole lot less than $260,000 the year prior.
My sincere congratulations to Mr. Miles on his efforts to straighten out, I wish him all the best; and some special thoughts for Dr. Andrew Boozary of UHN who was the driver behind this idea (Dunn House) which has proven so useful.
****
A moment here to think that while Mr. Miles case will not be the universal one.........to the extent it is representative of even 5,000 people among Toronto's homeless population, this would indicate an annualized savings of over 1 Billion dollars if were able to assist those 5,000 people in the same way.
The direct cost of Dunn House (operating) at the scale that would service 5,000 people over one year is $240,000,000, that's about 1/3 of what Toronto spends on Shelters every single year. Put another way, it would be a huge net savings.
The cost to build Dunn House was $14,000,000 or about $274,000 a bed ( on hospital land that was not paid for, for the project)
But if you want to think of what that looks like at scale, its 1.4B to build out 5,000 beds provided we can do so on 'free' land.
I don't know that we need that number as the intention is for this housing to be transitional in nature.
But I want to point out how shockingly little it is in the context of what we're spending doing this wrong.
@HousingNowTO
Jason Miles’ addiction cost $260,000 in emergency room, shelter and jail stays. A Toronto hospital’s radical solution: just give him a home
Jason Miles’ addiction cost $260,000 in emergency room, shelter and jail stays. A Toronto hospital’s radical solution: just give him a home
www.thestar.com
Jason Miles was an addict from early in life, but for a period of time, while gainfully employed, he managed a half-decent life; then he lost that job and things quickly spiraled downwards.
Addiction, overdoses, theft and other criminal behavior, in/out of hospitals, shelters and jail.
The Star who spoke w/him on the record and with access to some of his records.........estimated that he conservatively cost the 'system' $260,000 in his last year prior to moving in to Dunn House.
That including ER Visits, in-patient time in hospital, six months in shelters and time in jail, amongst other things. It doesn't include the damages to various properties as a result of his criminal conduct.
Subsequently, Mr. Miles has apparently turned his life around. He's been sober for many months now, has had no new brushes w/the law, has gone back to school to finish obtaining his HS diploma at the age of 43 and is hoping to be gainfully employed, possibly at UHN helping others like him.
The cost of housing him and supporting him over the last year, estimated at $48,000, not cheap, but a whole lot less than $260,000 the year prior.
My sincere congratulations to Mr. Miles on his efforts to straighten out, I wish him all the best; and some special thoughts for Dr. Andrew Boozary of UHN who was the driver behind this idea (Dunn House) which has proven so useful.
****
A moment here to think that while Mr. Miles case will not be the universal one.........to the extent it is representative of even 5,000 people among Toronto's homeless population, this would indicate an annualized savings of over 1 Billion dollars if were able to assist those 5,000 people in the same way.
The direct cost of Dunn House (operating) at the scale that would service 5,000 people over one year is $240,000,000, that's about 1/3 of what Toronto spends on Shelters every single year. Put another way, it would be a huge net savings.
The cost to build Dunn House was $14,000,000 or about $274,000 a bed ( on hospital land that was not paid for, for the project)
But if you want to think of what that looks like at scale, its 1.4B to build out 5,000 beds provided we can do so on 'free' land.
I don't know that we need that number as the intention is for this housing to be transitional in nature.
But I want to point out how shockingly little it is in the context of what we're spending doing this wrong.
@HousingNowTO
Last edited: