Homelessness in Waterloo Region
The Waterloo Region Community Homelessness Network has been restructured and renamed the Waterloo Region Housing and Homelessness Umbrella Group. A website was launched in November 22, 2006. For current information about the activities of the HHUG go to www.hhug.ca
This homelessness webpage will maintain archival material from the Homelessness Network
August 25, 2003
[US] Feds Want to Track the Homeless
Wired News: "HUD says the mandatory tracking program will help establish an accurate count of the nation's homeless, streamline services and reduce fraud. Opponents say the HMIS databases will put homeless people's privacy at risk and could be misused by local officials to harass the homeless for political reasons. Incidents of official harassment of the homeless are well-documented, as are accounts of police abuse of sensitive databases."
Related: As homelessness increases, number of laws targeting homeless people rise
August 20, 2003
$1.35M for homeless 'not enough'
Kitchener-Waterloo Record (subscription required): "Waterloo Region will receive $1.35 million from the federal government during the next three years to finance transitional programs that help homeless people find housing. But one local advocate for the homeless believes the cash -- part of the $405 million the federal government promised to address the issue -- is not enough to pay for new, additional programs pledged by Ottawa to assist street kids and aboriginals. Carine Nind, chairwoman of Waterloo Region's Homelessness Network, said yesterday Ottawa has not increased the amount of money coming to Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge but wants more done with the cash. 'The bottom line is, this is not near enough money. They've added youth and aboriginals but the amount of money has shrunk,' she said. Nind said network members support a move by Claudette Bradshaw, federal minister responsible for homelessness, to direct more cash into transitional programs instead of shelters. But she warned it's expensive and difficult to get homeless people with major social problems off the streets and into a limited supply of affordable housing."
Queen Street homeless shelter observes anniversary
Town Crier: "The good news is that the Good Shepherd Centre on Queen St. turns 40 this year. The bad news is that the Good Shepherd Centre turns 40 this year. Founded in 1963, the centre provides overnight shelter, daily meals, counselling services and many other ancillary services to the city’s homeless. The fact that it’s been around this long can be viewed as a testament to the state of homelessness in Toronto today."