Hamilton aims to eradicate homelessness by 2025
‘Housing First’ approach emphasizes quickly rehousing people and providing ongoing support to ensure stability
Marsha Travale talks about sleeping in “cubbyholes.”
In reality, they are doorways and bus shelters, where she lies on the cold concrete in terrible weather with nothing more than a blanket.
Travale, 47, now a human fixture on King and James in downtown Hamilton, holds a cardboard sign and tin cup for handouts.
“I do not want to be out here. I never did,” she
says on a cold, grey Monday afternoon, explaining how she lost her place about a year ago.
Travale, who goes by her street name Crystal, is one of 450 people experiencing chronic homelessness in Hamilton.
The city hopes to eradicate homelessness by 2025.
Hamilton will receive $29.4 million over five years to implement “Reaching Home,” which the city notes is a 21 per cent increase over the previous five-year federal funding envelope. As part of the new federal strategy, it must reduce chronic homelessness by at least 50 per cent over the next 10 years.
Emphasis is placed on data analysis, co-ordinating services, sharing information across organizational lines and measuring results.
After working the corner of King and James, Marsha Travale heads to Hamilton City Centre to warm up.
“What we’re trying to say is we need to reform and work in a more intentional way that’s going to produce outcomes as opposed to just treating the symptoms of the problem.” AMANDA DIFALCO
“Fortunately, Hamilton has been at the leading edge of this work over the last few years,” Amanda DiFalco, the city’s manager of homelessness policy and programs, said Monday.
The city’s byname priority list — which tracks everyone who accesses elements of the homeless-serving system, such as a shelter — is evolving.
There are 1, 056 people on the list. Since November 2017, when it was started, 653 have been successfully housed, DiFalco said.
A variety of factors can lead to homelessness. It could be loss of employment, a family breakup, rising rent, deteriorating mental health or addiction.
The key is to co-ordinate the right services at the right time for the right people, DiFalco said.
“Right now, a lot of our services are first-come, first-served. If you could imagine an emergency room working that way, that would be chaos,” she said.
“What we’re trying to say is we need to reform and work in a more intentional way that’s going to produce outcomes, as opposed to just treating the symptoms of the problem.”
Hamilton and other municipalities are following a “Housing First” approach to homelessness. This emphasizes quickly rehousing people and providing them with ongoing support to ensure they remain stable.
People start to contribute to society again by working or going to school, DiFalco said. “When you have housing, you have your life back.”
But lining up health, addiction and housing services among sectors — and their various funding envelopes — can be a daunting task.
“It’s like trying to move the Titanic. You’re really trying to pivot against a big tide,” DiFalco said, but added it’s “not impossible.”
Hamilton’s increasingly expensive and tight rental market, however, has made it more challenging for nonprofits to find units for clients on social assistance.
“That has been a problem,” says Travale, who notes she has relied on a disability pension since 2002, after an automobile accident.
The Mount Hope native says she lived in a subsidized unit for five years but was then abruptly told she had to pay market rent.
Travale says she tried to make it work, but fell behind and was evicted. She has stayed with the YWCA, but for the most part, has slept outside.
Travale says she has suffered frostbite and hypothermia. She’s frequently robbed — her scooter, her backpack, her blanket. “A lot’s happened out here. ... It’s horrible.”
Physical ailments rule out wooded areas like the escarpment or along Highway 403, where people have set up tents despite the cold.
“It would also be dangerous for me to be by myself ... because I don’t want to get hurt by other people.”
So she tries to strike a delicate balance — hideaways where she’s not among too many and not so isolated in case there’s trouble.
“I’m outside all day, soaking wet in the rain, then I sleep in those wet clothes. I wake up in those wet clothes.”
Emergency shelters in Hamilton frequently operate at or above capacity. Women’s programs routinely must turn people away.
On Monday, DiFalco and her colleagues were at the David Braley Health Science Centre on Main Street West to gather feedback on ways to end chronic homelessness.
The next step is to develop a report on how the city plans to achieve this, DiFalco said. In summer, there will also be a call for applications to allocate the applicable funding.
An evidence-based approach should be in the interest of whichever party forms the next government after the federal election in October, she said.
Research has shown the expense of homelessness is seven times higher than that of housing someone, DiFalco said.
“So we know that it’s cost-effective.”
Travale says she feels ashamed asking for money.
“My head’s down a lot. ... People are always like, ‘Keep your head up and smile. ... But your heart’s racing and you feel not good.”