Practical Support in Your Community
Recovery is not only clinical. Money, housing, transport, food and the practical business of getting through a week are frequently what stands in the way. Traditional psychotherapy does not address any of it, yet it is the foundation that makes taking part in therapy possible at all. Someone worrying about rent or unable to afford the bus to an appointment is not going to get much from a session.
We work with you across all of it. Our Registered Social Workers identify which supports apply to you, complete the applications, and follow them up. Our Functional Impact and Barriers to Recovery Assessment© exists precisely to document these pressures, examining nine distinct barrier domains that standard medical reporting leaves out, so that what is actually holding your recovery back is written down rather than assumed.
Financial Support
What exists, and what we can help you claim.
Practical Help by Category
Services vary by municipality, and working out what exists where you live is a job in itself. That is work our Registered Social Workers do for you: they know the programmes in each of our regions, make the referrals, complete the applications, and follow them up until something is actually in place.
Getting Around
- 211 Ontario: dial 211 for local services
- Municipal specialized transit for people with disabilities
- Community volunteer driver programs, often through Red Cross
- Canadian Cancer Society and similar medical transport schemes
- We can arrange transportation to your appointments with us
- Accessible parking permits through ServiceOntario
Food & Essentials
- 211 for local food banks and meal programs
- Community fridges and pantries in most municipalities
- Good Food Box programs for affordable produce
- Meals on Wheels for people unable to cook
- Our dietitian can help you eat well on a limited budget
- Nutrition support →
Housing & Utilities
- Municipal housing help centres for rent arrears and eviction
- Low-Income Energy Assistance Program for utility arrears
- Ontario Electricity Support Program for ongoing bill reduction
- Home adaptation funding through March of Dimes Canada
- Landlord and Tenant Board for tenancy disputes
- Community legal clinics for eviction defence
Disability & Independence
- Assistive Devices Program for equipment funding
- March of Dimes Canada for home modification and independence support
- Independent living centres across Southern Ontario
- Ontario Brain Injury Association: 1-855-642-8877
- Chronic pain support groups through local hospitals
- ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for mental health and addiction services
If you do not know where to start, dial 211. It is free, staffed around the clock, and exists specifically to connect people to local services.
You Do Not Have to Navigate This Alone
Our Registered Social Workers are trained in exactly this: working out what you are entitled to, completing the applications properly, and dealing with the organizations involved.
We complete the supporting documentation for Ontario Works, ODSP and CPP Disability, and we submit and track your insurer funding requests. Incomplete medical documentation is the most common reason these applications fail, and it is avoidable.
There is a good deal more that people do not realise we can help with: Employment Insurance sickness benefit certificates, disability insurance forms from your employer’s plan, Disability Tax Credit certification, ODSP special diet allowance forms, Assistive Devices Program authorisations, and letters supporting school or college accommodations. Where a form requires a prescriber’s signature, we will let you know whether we are able to complete it.
Our Functional Impact and Barriers to Recovery Assessment© exists precisely because these practical obstacles, money, housing, language, transport and isolation, are frequently what determines whether someone recovers, and they are absent from standard medical reporting.
If you are stuck, call and say so. It is a reasonable thing to need help with.
Our assessments →