Calgary Homeless Foundation president leaving to take message across country
The Calgary Homeless Foundation will lose its chief executive this summer, in the midst of significant strides in getting people off the street.
But Tim Richter isn’t leaving, in August, because of ideological differences or controversy. He’s leaving to become a key player in a new initiative aimed at spreading to other cities across the country the success that Calgary, and other Alberta cities, have had at reducing the number of homeless.
“On one hand, it’s quite a sad time because I love what we’re doing here, I love working with the foundation. It’s been a huge part of my life,” Richter said. “I think I could only leave for something that held in the promise of ending homelessness in Canada.”
The new organization, named the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, will work with municipalities across the country to get them to implement their own 10-year plans to end homelessness.
Richter said many cities, such as Victoria and Toronto, have already put “housing-first” plans into place, and mayors, like Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson, are committed to ending homelessness.
“There’s this growing movement of communities that want to move from managing homelessness to ending homelessness, and the Canadian Alliance is designed to help that,” Richter said.
The alliance’s board of directors will be chaired by Alex Himelfarb, director of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs at York University.
Stephen Gaetz, director of the Canadian Homelessness Research Network, and Michael Shapcott, director of housing innovation at the Wellesley Institute, will assume the roles of secretary and treasurer, respectively.
According to the Calgary Homeless Foundation, in the four years since the 10-year plan to end homelessness was put in motion, nearly 4,000 people were moved from the streets to permanent housing, with an 11.4 per cent decrease in the number of homeless in the same period.
Richter said the Calgary foundation has been fortunate to have significant support from the private sector, hundreds of staff working with them, and thousands of volunteers, as well as Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
“We’ve also enjoyed the support of the province of Alberta, with Premier (Ed) Stelmach first, and then Premier (Alison) Redford,” Richter said.
“It’s the only province in the country that’s committed to end- ing homelessness.”
Recent provincial budget announcements, promising a $13-million increase in funding for permanent housing programs, reflect the success of housing initiatives in Alberta, and the government’s confidence in them.
Richter also noted there has been support from the federal government, including Calgary South MP Lee Richardson, who sits on the foundation board.
Along with Thursday’s announcements, the alliance released a document called A Plan, Not A Dream, available on its website (www.caeh.ca). It details how to build a 10-year plan to end homelessness.
Richter said the organization hopes the document will help raise awareness about the efforts.
Calgary’s 10-year plan aims to eliminate homelessness by 2018. Other Alberta cities that are seeing success with “housing-first” programs include Edmonton, which saw a 21 per cent decrease in homelessness, Fort Mcmurray, with a 42 per cent decrease, and Lethbridge, with a 53 per cent decrease.