Province pledges $60M for homeless
Calgary getting $27 million for housing programs
It’s not a cure-all for homelessness, but Calgary agencies say more than $27 million in provincial funding this year will help find permanent homes for some people who have lived in shelters or on the streets for years.
The provincial government announced Thursday it will put more than $60 million toward community programs aimed at fighting homelessness in seven Alberta cities.
In Calgary, some of the $27.6 million in local grants are destined for nine local programs that will provide housing and support for 320 additional people in the next year.
The programs are designed not only to put a roof over somebody’s head, but to tackle the issues that keep people on the street, such as addictions and mental illness.
“You don’t just put someone in an apartment and leave them there,” said John Rook, president and CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation.
A one-night count in August re- corded 3,576 homeless in Calgary — people who were staying in emergency shelters, living in short-term supported housing or sleeping outside.
The August number was an increase from January, when authorities counted 3,190, but Rook said it’s normal for the number to trend higher in the warmer months, when the amount of transient job seekers tends to increase.
Overall, the number of homeless people in Calgary has been decreasing since a coalition of local authorities and agencies launched the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness in 2008.
The current homeless numbers are down from 2008, and January’s count was the first measurable decrease in homelessness after years of steady increases dating to 1992.
The focus of the 10-year plan is finding homes for people, rather than managing the problem through shortterm solutions such as emergency shelters.
The Calgary Homeless Foundation estimates it has found permanent homes for approximately 4,000 people since 2008.
In addition to the $27.6 million going to a variety of Calgary agencies, Alberta Health is giving the Calgary Homeless Foundation an additional $2 million to go toward mental health and addictions programs aimed at helping the chronically homeless.
In all, the homeless foundation is receiving $7.5 million, which it will split among nine recipients.
Rook acknowledged the funding announced Thursday is not a panacea — in a city with high rents and low vacancy rates, there are many working poor among the city’s homeless.
Still, Rook said focusing on the chronically homeless helps addresses a key problem in the system: people who have been living in shelters for years.
“It helps a lot, because it unblocks the shelter system,” he said.
In Calgary, the homeless foundation hasn’t finalized how the money will be divided between the nine successful bidders.
One of the recipients, The Alex, anticipates the money will allow it to help more people with its Home- Base program, which finds homes for clients who also need treatment for addictions and mental and physical health issues.
Clients accepted into the program are supported for a minimum of one year — or longer, if they need it.
“With comprehensive support, people can change their lives,” program manager Lisa Garrisen said.
“Without support, a lot of folks won’t be successful in maintaining their housing.”
HomeBase has about 180 clients but should be able to support as many as 200 in the coming year.
Because it takes time to build new stocks of affordable housing, HomeBase and most others in Calgary find housing spaces by working with private landlords.
Although the government funding helps, Rook and Garrisen said agencies are at the mercy of other factors that can make it more difficult to find homes for clients.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is projecting an estimated 20,000 newcomers to Calgary in the coming year, at a time when the local residential vacancy rate is about 1.3 per cent.
“It’s tricky right now,” Garrisen said.