What it's like patrolling Ottawa's downtown to help the homeless

Ottawa’s Community Engagement Team’s goal is help divert those who use drugs and are unhoused away from police and emergency medical services.

Published Apr 29, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 1 minute read

OTTAWA: Community Engagement Team (CET) member Rachel Douglas, centre, alongside service dog Kobe and fellow CET member Terrence Lei, speak to a member of the community (name withheld) in the Centretown neighbourhood in Ottawa on Tuesday Feb. 27, 2024. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia

OTTAWA – Wearing matching black Hi-Vis backpacks, dark blue winter coats and hats stitched with City of Ottawa branding, Rachel Douglas – alongside seven fellow team members and a canine companion – make up the City’s Community Engagement Team. Better known as “CET” amongst clients who use the team’s outreach model, CET workers are paired together to collectively patrol the ByWard, Lowertown, Centretown, Elgin Street and Sandy Hill neighbourhoods.

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“I think community is all about inclusivity. So, making sure everyone is a part of it, no one is excluded from it and business owners, residents, our street level people are all able to connect and acknowledge each other for who they are,” explained Douglas, adding even the smallest greetings go a long way to building connections.

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With its inception as a pilot project in January 2022, CET formed as a response to the lasting impact of the pandemic, and the continued effect of drug use and unhoused individuals on businesses and residents in the community. The goal of the program is to help divert those who use drugs and are unhoused away from police and emergency medical services. CET can help folks get an ID, access shelter programs, or receive health services.

“We talk a lot about meeting people where they’re at and that has to be the starting point,” explained Caroline Yabsley, Program Manager at the CET program. “Not everyone knows what’s available to them. Not everyone understands what I can access. It’s not always that the services aren’t there but it’s how do you get people to the service or how do you get that service to them.”

OTTAWA: Community Engagement Team (CET) member Terrence Lei, centre-left, unzips a Naloxone overdose kit, as Rachel Douglas, centre-right, takes out a pair of medical gloves while helping a person in distress (name withheld), who reported being under the influence of an unknown drug and requested for paramedic services on Sparks St. In Ottawa, on Tuesday Feb. 27, 2024. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia OTTAWA: Douglas walks with service dog Kobe while scanning an empty lot near Elgin St., for drug paraphernalia. Photo by Spencer Colby/Postmedia /Postmedia OTTAWA: Lei, right, grabs a Naloxone overdose kit for CET Coordinator Lynea Finn, centre, to place in the mailbox of a local resident who requested one. Photo by Spencer Colby/Postmedia /Postmedia OTTAWA: Douglas hands an Ottawa Paramedic Service (OPS) member a patient’s (name withheld) belongings after reporting being under the influence of an unknown drug and requested paramedic services on Sparks St. Photo by Spencer Colby/Postmedia /Postmedia OTTAWA: Lei speaks to an unhoused person sleeping next to a pair of dumpsters on the property of a Somerset St. W business. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia OTTAWA: Douglas holds a blue medical glove after assisting a patient (name withheld) who reported being under the influence of an unknown drug and requested paramedic services on Sparks St. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia OTTAWA: Douglas alongside service dog Kobe scans the ground for the personal belongings of a patient (name withheld) who reported being under the influence of an unknown drug and requested paramedic services on Sparks St. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia OTTAWA: Lei checks to see if anyone is living in a makeshift shelter at the back of an empty lot near Elgin St.. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia OTTAWA: Douglas briefs Ottawa Paramedic Service (OPS) members while transferring a patient (name withheld) to OPS care after reporting being under the influence of an unknown drug and requesting paramedic services on Sparks St. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia