Increasing homeless numbers need attention

About 1,682 Niagara households were forced to rely on emergency shelters last year.

It’s the largest number of people using emergency hostels in the past three years, with 1,615 households staying in shelters in 2015 and 1,676 in 2014, according to memorandums discussed Tuesday by members of Niagara’s public health committee.

For committee members, the reports were an indication that more services need to be provided throughout the region – although no solutions were offered.

Regional Chair Alan Caslin said Niagara’s homelessness problem needs to be is something that “needs to be on our radar,” and it’s a situation he hopes can be addressed.

“We need to look at this a lot more carefully,” Caslin said.

Niagara Falls Coun. Selina Volpatti said the report is an indication that more homelessness services need to be provided beyond St. Catharines’ borders.

“I have been preaching about this for a long time that we have very few hostel services in Niagara Falls,” she said.

Volpatti said a Niagara Region memorandum discussed at Tuesday’s public health committee meeting showed that of the only 317 Niagara Falls households received homeless services in 2016. In comparison, she said 1,239 households accessed shelter in St Catharines that year.

In Fort Erie, the number of households staying in hostels dropped to 88, while only 38 households received homelessness services in Welland.

While there are a few hostel services in other communities, providing temporary accommodations in hotel rooms, Volpatti said it’s not enough.

“Somehow that situation is going to have to change because these statistics show what’s happening,” she said.

“The difference between those two tables is because we don’t have shelters in Niagara Falls. We can’t serve anybody because they’re not there.”

Niagara Falls, as well as other communities, also fall far behind St. Catharines regarding the number of households accessing homelessness prevention programs. In Niagara Falls, Volpatti said 695 households accessed prevention services compared to 891 in St. Catharines.

In Port Colborne, 216 households accessed prevention services, and 192 households in Welland.