An outreach group in Alberta has a new plan for tackling homelessness.
The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness wants communities to stop thinking about the problem as a short-term issue.
The organization’s president, Tim Richter, says getting homeless people into permanent housing should be the first priority:
“You know, all of these plans are based on a ‘housing first’ methodology, and housing first means people go directly from homelessness into permanent housing, with the support they need to stay there. That support ranges from addictions treatment to mental health care to medical care. Really, you end homelessness one person at a time and those support services are tailored to meet an individual’s need.”
Richter’s group is pitching a ten-year plan to communities who want to try this approach.
He says similar plans have worked in Edmonton which he claims saw a 21% drop in homelessness from 2008 to 2010, and Calgary, which experienced a drop of 11.4% over four years.