Poverty rooted in residential schools, chief says
For Marlene Poitras, helping the homeless can involve anything from buying burgers to doing advocacy in Ottawa.
Poitras discussed poverty in her keynote address to Thursday’s Indigenous Gathering held by Homeward Trust, an Edmonton organization that works to address homelessness. Poitras is the first female Alberta regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.
In her address, Poitras highlighted causes, effects and possible solutions to poverty in Edmonton’s Indigenous communities. The problem, she said, is rooted in the fallout of residential schools. More recently, problems imposed upon Indigenous communities persist.
In 2016, Homeward Trust’s annual homeless count found that 48 per cent of people surveyed identified as Indigenous. Poitras thinks the actual amount of homeless Indigenous people is higher because of the “hidden homeless” — people who are trying to go back to school or find employment.
One way to address homelessness is a housing-first model, Poitras said. The approach gives those in need with permanent housing with the intention of stabilizing their living situations and ensuring they can access support services.
“Housing is more than just a physical structure to Indigenous people,” she said. “It’s a home, and a home is the most important basic need.”
Poitras said young Indigenous people may face housing issues when they leave reserves to enter the city. While there are existing resources to connect these individuals with help in the transition, some Indigenous individuals can be “bounced around” from resource to resource and may end up homeless.
Homeward Trust held a consultation session at the Indigenous Gathering for Edmonton’s upcoming Indigenous wellness centre. Supported by the City of Edmonton, the wellness centre project will cost $3 million, according to End Poverty Edmonton.
The centre will be designed with cultural needs involved, including infrastructure for holding smudging ceremonies. End Poverty Edmonton will produce a report by the end of 2018 with its findings from consultation.
“Anything they can do to open doors to help our people be more prosperous and more successful is a great thing,” Poitras said