Does supportive housing help our neighbourhoods?

The experience of the tent city exposed all of us to the challenges facing not only people who are homeless and in need of other critical supports, but also how the hardships of street life affect each and every one of us and the well-being of the city and neighbourhoods we love.

One of the biggest challenges with homelessness is not that people don’t care. It is that people simply don’t see it as their problem until it affects them personally. Tent city affected many people personally.

An even bigger challenge is that we can’t help but see people struggling with homelessness through our own biases. We might have a relative who is dependent on alcohol or drugs; we might well have a friend or family member who has experienced mental illness.

But how many of us suffered abuse and neglect as children; grew up in grinding poverty; experienced generational trauma from residential schools? How many of us can imagine one or more of those issues with a developmental or physical disability, mental illness or a brain injury? It hurts my heart to know that so many of the men and women we serve have endured such terrible things, and yet they persevere.

In addition to the many tragic personal reasons that lead to individuals being homeless, there are also many systemic issues that contribute to homelessness: income and disability assistance rates; the inherent discrimination of the criminal justice system to people living in poverty; the child welfare system; the Indian Act — all of these require policy or legislative changes at the provincial or federal government level. In Greater Victoria the housing affordability crisis, particularly rising rents and low vacancy rates, are exacerbating factors.

It is clear that ending homelessness will not be fast or easy. We know that housing, health care and support services — all of which the Victoria Cool Aid Society has been delivering for decades in the capital region — are a major part of the solution.

Housing first does not mean housing only; supports are critical. And providing supportive housing for people who have experienced significant trauma in their lives does not mean there are no expectations regarding behaviour. But those expectations have to be delivered with kindness and patience, building on each individual’s strengths.

Change is not easy for any of us at the best of times, and men and women coming from chronic homelessness might never have experienced a best time. Receiving that key to your own front door and grasping that it is yours and that you have control over who can enter and when — that is a process.

It takes time to stop worrying about how to keep your belongings safe, where you are going to sleep tonight, where you are going to eat. It takes time to build a relationship with support staff. But given that time, many of these men and women can and do make changes. They move beyond survival to goal-setting and concrete improvements.

Many of our residents are volunteering in their buildings, in neighbourhood cleanup initiatives and with other organizations. They are looking for work and taking the time to access quality health care and counselling while participating in activities, employment and life-skills development.

Some residents will continue to struggle; some wounds are simply too deep to heal; some demons are just too big to slay. It is equally important that we con- tinue to try to keep these folks housed, to continue to provide compassionate support to the best of our abilities. If the only alternative we have to offer is the street, then we are offering no alternative at all.

Victoria Cool Aid Society and other caring organizations don’t have all the answers, but we are offering solutions.

We must continue to work together to lobby for the creation of sufficient and appropriate housing and support services that can transform our city, province and country into the place we all want to live in. By investing wisely, governments and caring community members can improve peoples’ lives and increase the quality of life for us all.