SSODA: A brand-new hub of Coordinated Access
*This blog post was written on March 21, 2022. For the most up-to-date information about SSODA, visit ssoda.org
“Housing insecurity and homelessness has impacted the health and well-being of rural Nova Scotians for many years, with agencies working around the clock to stretch limited resources. We’ll connect all these agencies to help them deliver safety and shelter to our community members who need it most.”
There are a lot of programs out there that help people deal with energy poverty, homelessness, and housing insecurity—but how do we find the right match? Where’s the best place to start?
At Energize Bridgewater, we spent a year consulting with the public about how we can best help homeowners, tenants, landlords, and businesses mitigate rising energy costs.
As part of our goal to make life easier for the people of Bridgewater, we wanted to either be that dedicated hub of insight and assistance, or help set it up.
Lisa Ryan, SSODA Director
In 2021, we used part of our Smart Cities Challenge grant to help develop the new and community-driven South Shore Open Doors Association (SSODA), launched to streamline access to resources and services and connect people to available housing. It’s a connector role important enough to have its own independent team. SSODA rolls up its sleeves for this key reason: putting limited resources to their best possible use.
“Energize Bridgewater is aiming to understand the root causes of energy poverty and come up with solutions within the town of Bridgewater,” says Lisa Ryan, SSODA’s Director. “Energy poverty is a major pathway to homelessness, especially in rural communities, so we partner with them. It’s a great collaboration—we help them reach their goals, and they help us reach ours.”
Coordinated Access is a triage system that identifies which of the nearly twenty community agencies are best suited to help an individual or family. SSODA is one of several pathways into a variety of social service programs—an intake desk asking prequalifying questions and referring people to Energize Bridgewater where appropriate, such as for retrofits or solar advice.
“We are a connector between people and resources,” says Ryan. “We welcome and onboard the people who need the help, and Energize Bridgewater lines up the services to make it happen.”
In addition to energy poverty interventions, SSODA’s mandate also includes shifting the homelessness sector towards greener, more efficient operations, and addressing the effects of climate change, which disproportionally impact our most vulnerable citizens.
The Energize Bridgewater program works within the town, but SSODA’s jurisdiction includes all of Lunenburg County. The agency, like Energize Bridgewater, has a boundless appetite for data about the region it serves.
“We can’t intervene to affect quality of life if we don’t know where the tipping points are,” says Ryan. “We want to understand how people get into a state of energy poverty, homelessness, or housing insecurity—is it because there’s not enough rental units? Is it our aging rental stock or demographics? How does family trauma lead to youth homelessness? To help break the cycle, we need to understand the patterns.”
After setting up a brand-new organization in a highly irregular year, this is SSODA’s moment to turn everything on—getting to the work of helping rural Nova Scotians who might otherwise be left behind.
“We have many families and individuals living under pressure,” she says. “We’ve got everything in place now to start collecting data and flagging shortfalls early on. Working alongside Energize Bridgewater, we know we’ll make a difference.”
