The idea of opening a health contact centre to serve the homeless and addicted of Chilliwack is closer than ever to becoming a reality.

"A draft business plan has been completed, and was presented to 28 different stakeholder groups," said Diane Janzen, chair of the Mayor's Committee on Health, and chair of the contact centre subcommittee.

"It was fully endorsed and now we're working on a final plan."

The next steps are to secure funding and a location for the contact centre, which will include housing, as well as medical services.

Subcommittee members recently met with BC Housing reps, and Fraser Health officials, as well as federal reps about the National Homelessness Strategy.

They'll need $2.7 million in capital funding for the building, and about $1.7 million in annual operating expenses, she estimated.

"Some of that is already secured, but more will be required to open," said Janzen.

They are about to start a "targeted program of advocacy" which translates into "talking to everyone we can about obtaining financial support," she explained.

"Those are our marching orders. So it's not just a grand idea anymore but something people can get behind, and it's realistic."

The "integrated wraparound model" that the contact centre will use was also given the nod.

"We have identified the components of the centre," she said. "At the core of the centre is a medical facility with medical staff onsite who will provide everything from basic medical care to mental health support."

The contact centre will house a dozen emergency shelter beds, as well as 48 transitional housing spaces.

What the committee members have learned is that those in "greatest need" of help, also tend to have multi barriers. There are about 100 people in Chilliwack considered to be long-term homeless, while service providers say there are another 200 in various stages of homelessness.

"They could be homeless, or close to it, but at the base of that may be addictions, other mental health or abuse issues," Janzen said.

Beyond the transitional housing opportunities, they are also working with educational partners to offer elements of jobs skills training and employment preparation.

"Our philosophy is not just housing first, although we're aware we can't address underlying issues unless housing is addressed. We say housing first, but not only housing. There are other issues have to be dealt with. Once the housing and health care issues are dealt with, we can move on to quality of life issues."

jfeinberg@theprogress.com