Homelessness in Waterloo Region

The Community Plan

Homelessness is a serious problem in Waterloo Region. Many people cannot easily find affordable places to live. Those who need assistance in everyday living often go without the supports they need to ensure health, safety and quality of life. There is a need to seek solutions to the growing problems of access to affordable and appropriate housing and to reducing the risks of homelessness experienced by many individuals and families in Waterloo Region.

The Community Plan was developed by the Waterloo Region Community Homelessness Working Group, an ad hoc committee comprised of community residents and members of faith groups, non-profit agencies, governments and funders. The Working Group has been operating since 1999 to respond to homelessness in a co-ordinated fashion.

The state of homelessness in Waterloo Region was summarized in the Backgrounder Report published in June 1999 (Dietrich et al., 1999) This study concluded that homelessness was a significant problem in Waterloo Region and also a complex issue. For example, the research showed that an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 different individuals stayed in emergency shelters during the course of one year in Waterloo Region. Historical data from shelters showed that the number of homeless people had been increasing over a five-year period.

In 2001, the Working Group received funding from the federal Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI) to complete a Community Plan for Waterloo Region. The Plan was launched in December 2001

• Download the Community Plan (483 KB PDF)
• Download the Appendices (626 KB PDF)
• Download the SCPI Community Guide (116 KB PDF)
• Download the 2003 Community Plan Update. (561K PDF file)

Key Dates in the development of the Community Plan.

Objectives

The objectives of the plan, which are based on the identified community priorities, are intended to address current and future needs in Waterloo Region. The objectives are to:

• Increase the ability of the community to meet the immediate needs of people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness and decrease the hardships they face.
• Increase the supply, variety and accessibility of affordable housing stock for the people of Waterloo Region.
• Enhance supports for special needs, increase efforts to prevent homelessness and build the community's capacity to respond to homelessness.
• Foster knowledge and expertise about homelessness issues in order to increase community awareness and participation.

Priorities

The objectives of the plan are based on four main community priorities, which were identified by the Working Group through its research and community consultations, and confirmed at a community forum on September 12, 2001. 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. Within each priority area, a number of strategic directions were prioritized.

• Meeting immediate needs
• Creating a new supply of housing
• Supports for special needs; prevention; building community capacity
• Information, education and community awareness

Implementation

A number of strategic directions relating to these priorities were also reviewed and confirmed at the September 12 forum. Resources to meet the community priorities will come from a number of sources. One very important funding sources is SCPI. This program is allocating $305 million across the country to tackle homelessness between 2000 and 2003. The allocation for this area was set at approximately $1.4 million, about $450,000 of which has already been allocated through the program's Urgent Needs process.

The Working Group asked the Regional Municipality of Waterloo to act as the Community Entity, to assist with the implementation of the Plan and the allocation of the SCPI funds. This process is now under way.

The Plan will allow the community to direct the remaining funds from the SCPI allocation. More importantly, though, this plan will serve as a tool for guiding where funds from other sources are allocated.

The plan will also help to build the Waterloo Region community's capacity to respond to homelessness effectively. Through co-ordinated action and the principled allocation of resources, the people of Waterloo Region can use this plan as a roadmap for action to address the serious problem of homelessness.

It is anticipated that the community plan will be reviewed annually and amended to reflect progress and changing circumstances.

Updated March 2004.