The Integrated Homelessness Action Response Team connects people who are experiencing homelessness with health care resources.
On a cold February morning, Ashley Hiscott and Alex Murphy park their car next to the gravel pit, a homeless encampment in Abbotsford.
It’s a quiet morning, but at its busiest, around 15 people lived at the gravel pit. A smattering of tents and debris occupy the empty lot. The sounds of vehicles zooming down nearby Highway 1 fill the air, while a cat lazily strolls across the encampment.
Ashley and Alex are part of the Integrated Homeless Action Response Team (IHART). Recently, members of the Fraser Health communications department spent the day with IHART to get an on-the-job look at how they connect with people experiencing homelessness to provide them with health care support and resources.
“These are our community members, and they have not been able to access the services we do, so I think being able to make them feel welcome in these services... is really important,” says Ashley, a mental health and substance use clinician.
Every day, Ashley and Alex, an outreach support worker, head out to local encampments and homeless shelters to meet with clients.
“We act as a bridging team to a lot of different resources in the community for people”, says Alex, adding that it can include everything from connecting clients to substance use services to helping them get new identification cards.
“One of the biggest things that’s really taken for granted is just being a listening ear for folks. And that can be huge for someone.”
IHART currently operates in the majority of Fraser Health communities including Burnaby, the Tri-Cities and Hope.
Ashley and Alex work with an IHART team that serves the communities of Abbotsford and Mission. In a year, the team conducts more than an estimated 14,000 client visits.
At the encampment, the pair are joined by IHART registered nurse Tracey Thiessen.
Tracey and other IHART nurses aren’t bound by the four walls of a hospital. They are able to bring primary care to clients wherever they may be.
“I just have a real heart for people who are living on the fringes and are not able to perhaps get the dignity or respect that they are owed,” says Thiessen.
Many clients are facing complex medical challenges, she says, but are unable to address their needs because they are focused on more imminent challenges like where they will sleep that night.
“I’m just fortunate to have had a life where I haven’t had to face the things they’ve faced and maybe I’ve had the support around me to help me be successful... and they need that,” says Tracey.
“That’s what IHART does. We help to be that support.”
While IHART staff often see clients on a one-off basis, sometimes their support can span years.
Tracey first met client Pierre “Gary” Goulet in 2022 when he was living in a shelter. Today, he now lives in his own unit in Abbotsford.
“I’m doing good. I’m really happy,” said Goulet, when Tracey met up with him in his home to provide an assessment on a past leg wound.
“I feel... safe. I don’t have to worry.”
Over the years, IHART was able to help Gary with primary care, access to glasses and dentures, mental health support, addiction treatment and access to supportive housing. They also connected Gary with the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction where he could access income assistance and acquire a new identification card.
“Being without a place to lay your head at night is not good and I don’t want to go back there,” he said.
“They [IHART] saved my life.”
To learn more about IHART visit fraserhealth.ca/IHART.
