HOMELESSNESS IS HERE

Homelessness may not always be visible on our streets but the problem is there

Local organizations offer suggestions to battle homelessness in CBRM.

We are writing in response to a recent editorial (“Youth and Homeless”), which appeared in the Cape Breton Post on May 16.

In the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), homelessness might look different than in larger Canadian cities, but the challenges are much the same. We may not see much of a visible homeless population on our streets daily. However, the problem is there. It’s just a bit more hidden.

Over the last two years, a group of local professionals working in housing, health, post-secondary education, justice and other community services worked together to gather the evidence on homelessness and housing issues in our community.

In April, 2016, a one-day count found 137 people were homeless in CBRM. In the same month, a one-month count working with service providers found 304 people experiencing homelessness locally. We also worked with landlords to determine what the local rental housing stock was like and surveyed tenants about their housing experiences.

We not only learned that affordable housing and homelessness are issues in CBRM, but we also learned a lot about our homeless population and the challenges they are facing. The data showed that people who are the most likely to experience homelessness in CBRM have the fewest options. The most in need are non-senior single adults, including youth: youth homelessness is a pressing issue in our community, as your editorial piece highlighted.

Based on the data, what do we do? Here are some concrete suggestions:

1. Implement a Housing First program for youth specifically. Housing First is already underway in CBRM for adults. It is described as “a recovery-orientated approach to ending homelessness that centers on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services as needed (Homelessness Partnering Strategy of Canada, 2016).”

2. Have housing support workers in CBRM. Housing support workers are a low-cost, high-impact intervention and provide assistance to tenants, such as young people, looking for housing. They also help landlords by educating tenants on their rights and responsibilities, and by helping to resolve conflicts.

3. Make more affordable housing options available for renters. We need the province to make rental subsidies available in the community, which bridges the gap between the rent charged and what a tenant is able to pay. Or, the provincial shelter allowance could be increased, since currently it falls short of covering local average shelter costs.

4. In Halifax Regional Municipality, both housing support workers and rent subsidies are available. With collaboration and political-will, the same programs can be rolled out in CBRM.

5. Finally, we need to allow single, non-senior renters in public housing and ensure funds available through provincial and federal agreements are accessible to all renters. Current policies exclude our youth from getting the housing supports they need. Supporting and investing in them, is an investment in our future.

In our local work, we found that those having a hard time paying their rent, and living in housing in need of major repair, were more likely to report higher levels of stress and lower sense of belonging to the community. Investing in housing is cost-effective for multiple levels of government. Having a safe, secure place to live is a basic human right, no matter gender, ethnicity or age.

“Those having a hard time paying their rent, and living in housing in need of major repair, were more likely to report higher levels of stress and lower sense of belonging to the community.”