Homelessness in Waterloo Region

Community Homelessness Forum Sept 12, 2001

Based on all of the community inputs and findings from the planning process, the Working Group undertook a collective process of sorting through all the information to identify common themes. Four broad community priorities were identified.

On September 12, an all-day, Region-wide forum was held at St. John's Lutheran Church in Waterloo to review all of the input gathered and consider the priorities and strategic directions. More than 100 people - members of the public, homeless and at-risk people, and representatives of service providers, business, education, faith groups, governments and health services - participated. The participants confirmed the four broad priorities and prioritized strategic directions within each priority. Each of these priority areas - which cover the continuum of supports for people who are homeless or at-risk - is seen as equally as important as all the others.

It is understood that these priorities are based on community input at a certain point in time and that they will evolve as time goes on and as the implementation of the community plan unfolds. It is also understood that there will always be a need for on-going, current research regarding service levels and resources in order to demonstrate the feasibility of specific projects.

Below is a summary of the priorities. For more detail on the issues discussed at the forum, download the Priorities Document. (83KB PDF)

Meeting Immediate Needs

1. Provide more emergency shelter.

2. Provide direct financial support to assist with housing/shelter costs.

3. Provide 24-hour basic need services to homeless people.

4. Provide integrated and co-ordinated supports.

There are many measures that could be taken immediately to reduce the suffering and hardship of people who are homeless or at risk. This can include provision of more shelter spaces, increased financial assistance or improved access to resources such as drop-in centres and food banks.

Creating A New Supply Of Housing

1. Develop funding options for affordable housing development.

2. Create different types of units in appropriate locations.

3. Advocate for housing and shelter policy changes.

4. Build housing with supports.

5. Identify property that is available and suitable for housing development.

6. Create and use incentives for affordable housing development and renovation.

7. More research, planning and co-ordination.

8. Find creative options for building and renovations.

9. Involve those needing affordable housing in the planning and design of housing.

Increasing the supply of affordable, appropriate housing is key to eliminating homelessness in Waterloo Region. The Region is experiencing a severe shortage of affordable housing, which makes it especially hard to locate shelter for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It is acknowledged that the days of comprehensive senior government housing programs that covered all costs of construction and operations of new rental housing are not going to return in the near future. The solutions to address new supply therefore call for partnerships, philanthropy and the leveraging of financial support through joint-venture incentives from all levels of government.

Supports For Special Needs; Prevention; Building Community Capacity

1. Develop informal and formal supports for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.

2. Develop discharge protocols with institutional facilities to ensure individuals are not released into the community without proper accommodation.

3. Provide appropriate and co-ordinated supports for special needs.

4. Put eviction-prevention plan in place for people held in hospitals for extended periods of time.

5. Develop a team of housing advocates and develop interventions for people with disabilities, mental illness and/or addictions.

Many people, because of their personal circumstances, need supports and interventions so that they can find and maintain accommodation. Such supports may take a variety of forms. In the larger picture, there need to be homelessness prevention strategies in place. More successful supports and prevention strategies can be put in place if we can increase the capacity of our community - by harnessing the social infrastructure that already exists in the community in terms of facilities, agencies, clubs, programs and services - to respond to homelessness.

Information, Education And Community Awareness

1. Advocate for all homeless populations.

2. Develop an information campaign to raise public awareness around the scope of, causes of and solutions to the homelessness crisis in Waterloo Region.

3. Use social marketing techniques to change attitudes toward people who are homeless.

4. Promote collaborative processes and broad-based partnerships among all stakeholders.

5. Get the community involved in finding solutions.

6. Develop a base of knowledge, expertise and data about homelessness and share it.

There are frequent stories in the news about the desperate conditions faced by people who are homeless, yet the issue suffers from media exhaustion and a sense that the problem is an outcome of uncontrollable events. As a community we need a persistent information campaign to demonstrate the relationship between homelessness and higher-profiled government policy in areas such as health care, children's issues, the environment and education.