Street navigators ‘part of the response, not the solution’
As temperatures dropped to well-below freezing, Eric Jonsson spent his Saturday evening handing out a handful of sleeping bags to men living on the streets.
But the street navigator of downtown Halifax says he can only do so much within his position and even then, it’s a temporary solution at best.
“It’s tricky because yes, I think the work we do is important and useful, but the main thing we see a need for is affordable housing and I’m not an affordable housing provider,” Jonsson said during a phone interview Tuesday.
Last week, Halifax regional council unanimously voted to give $45,000 to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission and Spring Garden Area Business for its Navigator Street Outreach program this fiscal year.
Jonsson, who worked in non-profits and other organizations for many years before becoming the program co-ordinator with Navigator Street Outreach three years ago, said his current role “is the best kind of resource position.”
“A lot of times in other organizations, you get a grant for this or money for that, but it would be really specific on what you needed to spend the money on,” he said.
“As opposed to the navigator program, where the business commissions and the city recognize sometimes you can’t really predict what you need to spend the money on.”
Aside from helping people with medical costs, clothing and food, Jonsson said the largest need people have been coming forward with recently has been affordable housing.
And while he sometimes can cover rental arrears or other associated housing costs, he can’t assist everyone.
“Every one person I help,
there's probably two or three other people that need just as much help, but I just can't swing it,” Jonsson said.
“It's also one of those tricky things because it's like, is it a good use of the city's funding just to cover the provincial's shortfalls?”
At council last week, Coun. Becky Kent (Dartmouth SouthEastern Passage) noted there are people in different places, such as a church or community kitchen, who are acting as a street navigator in their area.
Sheena Jamieson, a community navigator at Halifax Central Library, said people have also been seeking assistance with affordable housing at the library.
“Housing is a really common struggle that people come in the doors with and are looking for resources and help with,” she said.
Jamieson said the library, which isn't apart of the Navigator Street Outreach program, evaluates if it can help the person directly or connect them with someone, such as Jonsson, to get further help.
Ken Williment, manager of programming and community engagement with Halifax Public Libraries, said the library has also recently connected with Welcome Housing, a nonprofit housing organization.
“So staff from Welcome Housing are at some libraries on specific dates and times and our staff, who have developed relationships with those that are housing precarious or facing homelessness, let our community members know they'll be there to help,” Williment said.
“We're not the experts on helping people solve their housing needs, but we can help them connect with those that are.”
Halifax Public Libraries also offers other resources, such as food, to the public.
“Libraries have always been about access to information and what that means has broadened over a period of time,” Jamieson said.
“The library is for everyone. We have books and books are great, but we offer so much more.”
Williment acknowledged while the library is constantly changing to meet the community's needs, similar to Jonsson, it's never a permanent solution.
“Hunger, for example, is one of those things that it's a need we can meet immediately, but guess what? It comes back the next day,” he said.
“We're part of the response, not the solution. Just like housing, it's a bigger issue.”
Council considered expanding the program, which is also in north-end Dartmouth, to rural areas, but eventually stuck to the original motion.
Mayor Mike Savage said “serious conversations with the province about whose area (street navigator programs) is” are needed, but added the municipality needs to be prepared to be part of the solution.