Wanted: a safe place for her son to live

Local supportive housing lacking in Vaughan, says mother of man who went missing for three days this past summer

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 11, 2015
By Tim Kelly

All Maria Lorenzoni really wants is somewhere safe for her son to live, a place she can be sure Mark won’t wander away from - like he did back in July.

The Kleinburg woman desperately worries for the safety of her 33-year-old who has multiple mental health issues including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and psychotic symptoms. But it’s not just for Mark she frets - it’s for others just like him – and the aging parents who are caught in the bind of caring for adult children while facing their own health challenges and imminent demise.

Mark went missing after leaving the Lorenzoni family home in Kleinburg and was gone for three days before turning up in Toronto. He was spotted by a hospital nurse and needed weeks of recovery time in a Toronto hospital.

Maria said parents of children like Mark need to find long-term solutions but have difficulty getting the answers they need from government agencies.

She said supportive housing for Mark and others like him locally is lacking.

“In Vaughan, there is virtually nothing.”

Mark tried to live in a residence in Holland Landing but was part of a crowded group of 22 residents that Maria thought was unsatisfactory for him.

“He hated it, because, it was very crowded ... there were 22 people in one small home with four tiny washrooms. “It was like an old Victorian home, had small bedrooms, two to a bedroom, his roommate was autistic, they provided meals and they monitored the drugs; it’s like a private business and the owner is paid to do this and there are people from the hospital that keep an eye on them,” said Maria.

She is hopeful she can find something more suitable for Mark closer to Kleinburg that is much less crowded.

Maria is part of a Richmond Hill-based group named Home on the Hill that advocates for residential placements for adults with mental illness.

Robert Veltheer of Home on the Hill said one of the problems with trying to find housing is that, “the funding just isn’t available (for a residence for those with a mental illness).”

But he said the goal is “supportive housing, where the supports are built into the housing.”

Veltheer said the big problem is co-ordinating between different government agencies at the provincial level to find the money for housing.

“The LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) doesn’t provide housing, that’s done by the Ministry of Housing. So although LHIN representatives are in agreement (of the need for housing), they don’t have any money for that sort of thing,” said Veltheer about the need for housing for those with mental-health issues.

“I have people calling me and they assume because of our name we already have housing, which we don’t. Certainly, that’s one of our objectives. I’ve had people call me and break down and cry on the telephone from worry about what they’re going to do about their children,” said Veltheer.

Kim Baker, chief executive officer of the Local Health Integration Network that includes Richmond Hill and Vaughan, said she meets parents of adult children with mental-health issues and understands, “the real challenges people are facing as they age. They are looking for those right housing opportunities. This is something that requires a lot of partnerships and collaborations so that we can find those right solutions whether it’s the LHIN or the Ministry of Health, whether it’s the Ministry of Social Services or key health-service providers already in the communities providing services, so that the housing can be provided and what’s very important - the supports within that housing. This year we’ve made $5.7 million in investments in particular to supports in housing and also leveraging where we can provincial strategies to bring new housing into our LHIN.”

Baker said it will take a number of ministries working together to help support the needs of parents and children who need a solution to their problems.

For Veltheer, the recent election was part of the issue he faces when it comes to care for his own son, who was finally able to find a group home in Newmarket.

“Somebody told me that one of the problems with people who are disadvantaged is that they don’t vote and they’re (politicians) not likely to burn up a lot of energy trying to help people who aren’t going to support them,” said Veltheer.