Supported Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness (SHIMI)

An innovative solution to a pressing community need for individuals living with mental illness and in need of supportive housing options.

2007–today

SHIMI (Supported Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness) is an innovative solution to a pressing community need for individuals who are living with mental illness and in need of supportive housing options. The project provides high quality, secure and independent housing together with a range of responsive supports to adults living with, and recovering from, a mental illness.

Persons living with mental illness are frequently marginalized and vulnerable, and struggle to find decent housing at an affordable cost. Many live in substandard apartments, partly because of the dynamic of private sector market rent levels and partly because of the shelter allowances provided by the Provincial Income Assistance Program. They are often shunned because of the visible signs of poverty, the presentation of symptoms, and the general misconceptions that many have about mental illness (propensity to violence, irrational actions and or beliefs, criminal intent associated with drug use, etc).

Suitable apartments and associated utilities that can be afforded under the shelter allowance portion of income assistance are rare. Apartments that rent for appreciably less than this generally have some compelling reason that they cannot command average market rent. Principally this will be because of their physical condition or because of their location.

Individuals living with or recovering from mental illness frequently experience housing insecurity (couch surfing), substandard accommodations, low income and social exclusion.

While successfully confronting any one of these issues would be a challenge, combined they can lead to a poor quality of life. The risk of homelessness is high.

Community-Based Support

It Starts At Home

There is now a considerable body of research to support the advantages of, and the need for, community-based support for individuals living with mental illness.

Full partnership, respectful communication, autonomy, choice and stable, decent and flexible housing are the cornerstones of this approach.

The voices and experiences of people who live with mental illness have been and will continue to be the driving force of the SHIMI project.

Housing supports within the local community are far more effective and efficient than institutionalization or congregate style housing for most. Community support options provide persons living with mental illness the possibility of choice and the ability to exercise these choices — thereby creating as independent a lifestyle as practical, building self-confidence, empowerment and ontological security — in turn reduces the negative impacts of mental illness on the individual, family, friends and the community as a whole. The first building block for community-based support is secure housing.

Homelessness Partnership Strategy

The SHIMI coalition’s first apartments were occupied in 2007, with the acquisition and renovation of 9 units funded by the Homelessness Partnership Strategy of Human Resource Development Canada.

New Dawn

Through its non-profit housing agency, the Cape Breton Association for Housing Development, New Dawn acted as the sponsoring agency for the initiative. With New Dawn continuing its role, four apartments in 2009 and nine apartments in 2011, which included the first two-bedroom units, were acquired. New Dawn has since acquired several other units bringing their current portfolio of SHIMI units to 27.

The SHIMI Model

The SHIMI model follows the practice of integrating small numbers of apartments seamlessly and unobtrusively into the community. The housing is secure both in the physical sense and in the financial sense:

Physical Security

The apartments and buildings are finished to a mid-market standard and professional property management ensures that the rent is collected, the bills paid and quality standards are maintained.

Financial Security

All shelter costs (rent, heat, power, water) are included for a rent of $535 per month. This is the maximum shelter allowance available to single individuals through the Province of Nova Scotia’s Income Assistance Program. Fixing the rent at the maximum shelter component ensures that the balance of an individual’s income can be used for food, clothing, transportation, etc.

Furnishings

Through the generosity of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia and the Cape Breton Mental Health Foundation, each new apartment is furnished with a full suite of furniture and appliances, including a washer and dryer.

Evaluative Research

In 2013, a team of researchers (Catherine Leviten-Reid, Cape Breton University; Pamela Johnson, Cape Breton University; and Michael Miller, Crossroads Clubhouse) undertook a formal assessment of the SHIMI program.

Their report presents a summative and formative evaluation of the Supported Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness (SHIMI) initiative. In this evaluation, the housing experiences of tenants, as well as the effects of these housing experiences, are explored.

All of these units would not have been acquired, renovated and furnished without the program funding and capital contributions of the HRSDC Homeless Partnership Strategy, the Affordable Housing Initiative of the Province of Nova Scotia, the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, and the Cape Breton Mental Health Foundation.

Download Report

To learn more about their findings, their report can be accessed below:

Supported Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness: An Evaluation [PDF]

Testimonial

Martin’s Story

Martin is an elderly man living with a diagnosis of Paranoid Schizophrenia who was on the verge of eviction once again. He was facing homelessness due, in part, to symptoms of his mental illness. In the past, these symptoms have triggered incidences that were not understood by his landlord. Martin’s living environment contributed to increased feelings of depression resulting in decreased mental health wellness.

At its core, SHIMI works to provide safe, affordable housing for persons with mental illness living in the community. It places great emphasis on providing a dignified and improved quality of life. But while the main issue being addressed is homelessness, underlying this is the acknowledgement and understanding of the struggles of living with a mental illness and the impact it has on sustaining and maintaining decent housing. SHIMI has made a difference in the lives of those we serve. Martin’s story is a prime example.

Martin’s former one-room apartment was unfit for living: leaks, rodents, a lack of heat supplied by the landlord. Leaks in the ceiling from an overflowing toilet upstairs gave off a smell of urine in a closet kitchen area. Rodents in his only closet forced him to stuff paper between the door and floor of the closet in the hopes that the rodents wouldn’t come out.

These situations were not those of paranoia but an often existing reality for Martin. Once again he wouldn’t unpack any of his meagre belongings; this place, like all the other apartments, would not be home. Martin would not complain about these conditions to the landlord. He was paying $550 from his $735 Social Assistance check and he did not want to find himself on the street again. He had few options. Martin’s situation is not unusual among the many people that SHIMI serves: many remain silent for fear of eviction.

Martin has been provided with a newly constructed apartment at a cost that will not affect the remainder of his monthly budget, meaning he doesn’t have to tap into grocery money to pay his rent or his utilities. The apartment comes with new appliances and furnishings, including Martin’s first new bed, and provides safety, support, warmth. Most importantly, it provides a renewed sense of pride, dignity, and a sense of stability.

“Since I have been living with SHIMI, I have experienced many good things. I have good neighbours who live in the other apartments in the building. We are all on a tight budget but we are able to support each other by sharing. Most important for me is that I feel safe here. The landlord of SHIMI has been very helpful to me, they keep the place in good condition. I will often clean up around the yard to help keep things looking nice. I like to have my home look nice. I love my apartment, it is clean, warm and safe. I feel like this is my Home.” —Martin (SHIMI client)

Martin still has issues related to his mental illness but now resides in an independent living environment where his illness is understood by those who support him and who are his neighbours. Martin’s illness is not an issue of shame that will have him evicted.