Amid housing and addictions crises, transitional help in Thunder Bay, Ont., offers hope [Video]

Ruth Winter tears up as she remembers learning she secured a space in transitional housing in Thunder Bay, Ont.

“I just felt so much weight coming off my shoulders,” said Winter. “It’s home, where I can shower daily, where I can eat.”

The member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation, an Oji-Cree First Nation about 350 kilometres north of Sioux Lookout, said she has been an alcoholic since age 13. She lived on the streets in Winnipeg for three years and almost died of a heart valve infection from doing intravenous drugs with a used needle.

Now in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction, she’s living in one of two transitional housing buildings run by the Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario (EFSNWO). The organization supports women and gender diverse people involved with the criminal justice system.

At the low-barrier, harm reduction-based housing, clients receive on-site support from staff members with …