Close X
Thursday, December 12, 2024
ADVT 
National

Communities Pledge To Find 20,000 Homeless People Permanent Shelter By 2018

The Canadian Press, 16 Jun, 2015 12:05 PM
    OTTAWA — Twenty-one Canadian communities are banding together to try and find homes for 20,000 homeless people by 2018.
     
    Cities in six provinces are recruiting volunteers to conduct local surveys of homeless populations to assess housing and health-care needs and build a database to help find permanent shelter for those most in need.
     
    The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness is spearheading the Canadian campaign, modeled on a similar U.S. program that found homes for more than 100,000 people over four years.
     
    Among the 235,000 Canadians who experience homelessness each year, there are an estimated 33,000 known as the chronically homeless — those who struggle to find shelter in part because of complex psychological and medical problems.
     
    A strategy known as Housing First has found that providing those people homes, backed up with social support, is more effective and cost-efficient at getting them off the street than first treating their underlying conditions.
     
    Alliance CEO Tim Richter says the program will work with existing financial resources but in order to really end homelessness more meaningful federal investment will be required.
     
    "Homelessness is a solvable problem and we believe if we work together, apply proven strategies like Housing First, we'll achieve meaningful, nationwide reductions in homelessness within three years," he said. 
     
    The 21 communities signed up to participate in the program include major Canadian cities such as Calgary, Regina, Ottawa and Halifax, as well as smaller communities in British Columbia and Ontario. 
     
    In 2008, the federal government contributed $110 million for a five-year research project to explore the Housing First strategy compared to traditional programs addressing homelessness. 
     
    The project found an average of 73 per cent of participants in the Housing First group remained in stable housing, compared to 32 per cent for the group receiving usual care.
     
    In 2014, the Conservatives announced a further $600 million for the program over the next five years.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong Lashed Out Against Journalist In Media: Lawyer In B.C. Court

    Bryan Baynham told a defamation trial that Laura Robinson has devoted her career to giving a voice to marginalized people and that's what she was doing when she investigated allegations that Furlong abused First Nations children.

    Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong Lashed Out Against Journalist In Media: Lawyer In B.C. Court

    Arvin Golic, 18, Charged In Luka Gordic's Stabbing Death In Whistler Released From Custody

    Arvin Golic, 18, Charged In Luka Gordic's Stabbing Death In Whistler Released From Custody
    Golic was charged with manslaughter along with three other underage male suspects who can't be named after 19-year-old Luka Gordic was killed in May

    Arvin Golic, 18, Charged In Luka Gordic's Stabbing Death In Whistler Released From Custody

    'Vexatious Litigant' Charles Bryfogle Banned From Entering Any Courthouse In British Columbia

    'Vexatious Litigant' Charles Bryfogle Banned From Entering Any Courthouse In British Columbia
    A 74-year-old man who wrongfully acted as a lawyer and created legal documents has been banned from entering any courthouse in British Columbia.

    'Vexatious Litigant' Charles Bryfogle Banned From Entering Any Courthouse In British Columbia

    Raw Deal: Officials Seize 27 Kilograms Of Meat Found In Luggage At Toronto Airport

    Raw Deal: Officials Seize 27 Kilograms Of Meat Found In Luggage At Toronto Airport
    The Canadian Border Services Agency says 27 kilograms of undeclared raw meat were seized at Toronto's Pearson International Airport last Tuesday.

    Raw Deal: Officials Seize 27 Kilograms Of Meat Found In Luggage At Toronto Airport

    More Rental Apartments In Parts Of Western Canada Sitting Vacant: CMHC

    More Rental Apartments In Parts Of Western Canada Sitting Vacant: CMHC
    Renters in Vancouver paid the highest average rent for a two-bedroom apartment, at $1,345 per month. Calgary came in second at $1,319, followed by Toronto at $1,269.

    More Rental Apartments In Parts Of Western Canada Sitting Vacant: CMHC

    Delta, B.C., Plan To Expand Firefighters' Role In Medical Emergencies Criticized

    Delta, B.C., Plan To Expand Firefighters' Role In Medical Emergencies Criticized
    A decision made late last month in Delta, B.C., to allow firefighters to give pain medication and maintain IVs during emergencies comes into effect on Monday.

    Delta, B.C., Plan To Expand Firefighters' Role In Medical Emergencies Criticized