Wellington County, Ont. – The Wellington-Guelph Health and Housing Planning Table has released a one-year update describing its work to transform the way health and housing services are planned and delivered in the County of Wellington and City Guelph.
Established in May 2024 following a series of ‘Health and Housing Symposiums’, hosted by the County of Wellington’s Social Services Department, the Planning Table brings together partners from across the health and housing sectors to tackle complex issues such as homelessness, precarious housing, and gaps in access to basic needs and mental health services. The initiative emphasizes collaboration, lived experience, and coordinated planning to support our area’s most vulnerable populations.
“The health and housing systems are not designed to be integrated,” says Luisa Artuso, Social Services Administrator for the County of Wellington. “The Planning Table is bringing together providers from the health and housing sectors to support shared accountability for planning and delivery of integrated health and housing in Wellington-Guelph. Partners around the Planning Table are committed to radically collaborating and transforming the otherwise separate systems to make the best possible use of our shared resources to meet the needs of those who require both health and housing services in our communities based on advice from those with lived experience.”
Highlights from update include:
- The establishment of the Wellington-Guelph Health and Housing Community Planning Table and the Provision of Basic Needs Sub-Working Group, that each meet monthly.
- The creation of a Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) to guide planning and programming.
- $450,000 in funding from the City of Guelph to support daytime services for individuals experiencing homelessness in Guelph for 2025
- A joint funding application to obtain Health Canada’ Emergency Treatment Fund for Health Outreach Mobile Engagement to deliver services in both Guelph and Wellington County.
- Workplan for the development of Wellington-Guelph Health and Housing Community Plan
- Communication plan for the public to be informed and participate
The Planning Table is co-chaired by the Social Services Department and the Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team (OHT), reinforcing the need for a shared approach to social, housing, and health supports in urban and rural areas.
“Partners of the Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team are working to improve the health of the residents of Guelph and Wellington County by addressing both the medical and social contributors to wellbeing,” says Emmi Perkins, Director of Transformation, Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team. “We cannot afford to continue to only focus on treatment of disease—we need to shift our focus upstream to prevention and broaden our focus to address social factors that contribute to ill health. For example, a person cannot attain health and wellbeing if they do not have access to stable housing, and a person may not be able to sustain housing without access to health services.”
The full report is available online at www.guelphwellingtonoht.com/HealthHousingReport. A dedicated website, launching in fall 2025, will provide ongoing updates, key resources, and ways for the public to stay engaged and informed.
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Media Contacts:
Luisa Artuso
Social Services Administrator
County of Wellington
519.837.2600 x 3540
luisaa@wellington.ca
and
Emmi Perkins
Director of Transformation
Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team
519.827.7358
Emmi.perkins@guelphwellingtonoht.com