List of names will help in aiding homeless

‘This is an important milestone,’ says Regional Chair Jim Bradley

Niagara is one of 22 Canadian regions that is taking names when it comes to fighting homelessness.

Built for Zero Canada, a national campaign to work toward an end to long-term, complex homelessness, has recognized Niagara Region for meeting all the requirements needed to achieve a Quality By-Name List, which provides up-to-date information on people experiencing homelessness across the region.

This list provides data on clients to support co-ordinated access to housing resources available through providers in Niagara’s homeless-serving system, as well as information on the number of people actively experiencing chronic homelessness.

“Reliable, real-time data helps monitor trends, inform system improvements, and assist Niagara Region when advocating for vital resources,” says a news release from the regional municipality.

The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness has set a goal of having 50 Canadian communities compile a list by March 2023.

According to the list compiled at the end of October, 834 individuals were experiencing homelessness, with 320 of

them experiencing chronic homelessness, said Peter Criscione, Niagara Region communications consultant.

With respect to geography of problematic areas in the region, Criscione said it is difficult to get accurate information as many clients do not identify as being from a single municipality.

“From the Region’s perspective, the experience of homelessness ideally is brief, and the key is to work with clients on permanent housing in their community of choice,” he said.

Leading up to being given the designation of a community in need of participation in this effort, Niagara Region completed several tasks including developing the by-name list in partnership with service providers, while achieving a perfect mark on the CAEH by-name list scorecard, which outlines key components of a list.

The Region provided three consecutive months of data to certify the list’s reliability, says the recent news release about the local involvement.

Regional Chair Jim Bradley congratulated staff and community partners for putting in the work to be recognized as an area of the country that needs this program.

“This is an important milestone as we continue to work toward addressing chronic homelessness in our community. By knowing who is experiencing chronic homelessness we are able to better provide programs and supports for people in need,” he said.

St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik said Niagara is “clearly focused” on addressing homelessness in its communities.

“This important milestone puts us on a clear path towards ending chronic homelessness,” he said.

The Region is now moving into the “reduce cohort phase” of the initiative, where it will use list data to “test innovative projects targeted to reducing chronic homelessness, pivoting to client needs and system-level trends.”