Taking shelter from addiction Program targets the ‘hidden’ homeless suffering from problem gambling
When Jason Smith arrived at Good Shepherd Ministries, a homeless shelter in Toronto, one of the first questions staff asked was if he needed help with a gambling addiction.
He was surprised. After bouncing between shelters for more than a decade, he had never been asked that. But he knew he needed help. His welfare cheques and meagre earnings from odd jobs were no match for the allure of the casino, with its free drinks, flashing lights and the constant dinging of the jackpot.
“I’d hear people winning and think it can be me,” says Smith, 31. “I’d work all day for eight hours and then be broke in two hours.”
He agreed to take part in a new treatment program focused on helping people facing homelessness tackle problem gambling, such as betting on horse races, bingo, card games, slot machines, lottery tickets and scratch cards. It’s the first program of its kind in Canada.
The idea for such a program came from Flora Matheson, a scientist at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital, which focuses on vulnerable populations.
She was looking into the link between gambling and homelessness but there were no Canadian data, except one study out of Quebec.
“There wasn’t a lot of (research) out there, but to me it intuitively made sense there would be a link,” she says.
“I thought, ‘This looks like a hidden-population and we’re not talking about it.’ ”
So in 2013 she reached out to Good Shepherd Ministries on Queen St. E., which provides services to those experiencing homelessness, to ask about their clients’ experiences with gambling. Staff had no idea how widespread the problem was because they didn’t ask about gambling.
Like most shelters, the focus was on drug and alcohol addiction.
That led to a joint study by St. Mike’s and Good Shepherd. Researchers and staff interviewed 264 people at the shelter, mostly men, and discovered that 35 per cent had a problem with gambling, compared with 0.6 to 4 per cent in the general population.
“I was shocked,” says Aklilu Wendaferew, assistant executive director of Good Shepherd Ministries. “I was surprised the problem was so wide within the population we serve … (It) was an emerging need that needed to be addressed.”
Last year they launched a new treatment program at the shelter, which is a three-year pilot project funded by the provincial agency Ontario Trillium Foundation. The program includes individual and group counselling, as well as Gamblers Anonymous meetings. It’s open to anyone who’s facing homelessness, or whose housing is at risk because of gambling. Since it started a year ago, about 55 people have participated.
The goal is to find the best practices to help this population. Data is gathered by the staff at Good Shepherd and sent to St. Mike’s for analysis.
“When you have nowhere to go, you’re always welcome at a casino, so long as you have money.” JASON SMITH GOOD SHEPHERD CLIENT
“The complexity of issues presented by people who are homeless is more severe than those living a more stable lifestyle,” Wendaferew says. “There are the constant worries of getting (basic necessities of life), which is tremendously challenging. And on top of that they have an addiction issue. And all their money goes into gambling. It creates a vicious cycle they can’t get out of.”
There are various treatment programs for the general public, but he says having one in a homeless shelter is important because it’s a familiar environment and they’re more comfortable speaking with others in similar circumstances.
“Everyone has a lot in common to discuss, so there’s camaraderie, and a tendency to connect and create a supporting network.”
St. Mike’s and Good Shepherd have also partnered with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to create a guide for homeless shelters to help those with a gambling addiction.
Matheson says gambling amongst this population is “a hidden problem.” There are campaigns to lessen stigma around mental health issues and substance use, but gambling addiction isn’t on the public radar, she says.
“There’s even more stigma related to problem gambling than there is sub- stance use,” she says. “People don’t talk about it. And there’s a lot of judgment like, ‘Why can’t they just stop the behaviour? They’re losing money.’ ”
Many times, she says, people facing homelessness also grapple with both a gambling addiction and substance use.
That was the case for Smith. By 16, he was hooked on drugs and alcohol. As a teen he’d buy scratch cards, but says gambling became problematic in his mid 20s when he started going to casinos.
He spent countless hours playing the slot machines, blowing all of his money.
“It’s all an escape — gambling, drugs, alcohol,” he says. “It was all to get me out of myself. I didn’t like myself.”
Although Smith was homeless the casino’s doors were always open.
“When you have nowhere to go, you’re always welcome at a casino, so long as you have money.”
When he got to Good Shepherd, after years of treating his body like a “garbage can,” filling it with drugs and booze, gambling was the least of his worries. But he knew he needed to tackle all of his addictions.
“I got tired of being a drain and suicide wasn’t an option,” says Smith, who had tried to get clean over the years, but had relapsed. “Something just changed in me. I wanted to look myself in the mirror.”
Gambling addiction case workers Melinda Montoro and Andrew Karagianis run the program at Good Shepherd and do outreach to other homeless shelters and drop-in centres. Their clients come from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and run the gamut from those who started gambling as kids to those who picked it up as adults. Clients choose to either abstain or reduce their gambling.
Part of what fuels their behaviour is the belief that they will win big, have a foolproof system and past wins can be repeated. So it’s important for case workers to educate them about the odds: For example, the chance of winning the Lotto Max grand prize is about one in 28 million.
Physiology also appears to play a role. Studies show gambling boosts dopamine in the brain — the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of enjoyment — similar to stimulant drugs, such as crack cocaine, according to the guide for service providers.
Ads by the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation are big triggers. So is cheque day, which is when people receive financial assistance through Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program.
“I suspect a reason why they keep gambling is that their situation — homelessness, addiction and isolation — feels so hopeless in the moment,” says Karagianis.
“If clients present in a way that they feel hopeless, I will specifically talk to them about examples where they accomplished something and build the case of why there is hope.”
For the first time in years Smith is hopeful. He’s clean and sober and stays clear of casinos. He’s living in supportive housing, has a full-time job in HVAC and has opened his first bank account. Plus, he’s looking forward to getting his driver’s licence. Addiction recovery does get easier with time, he says. “You have to be uncomfortable, until it gets comfortable,” he says. “The lows aren’t as low. And the highs aren’t as high — but they’re longer lasting.”