Halifax homelessness crisis: What governments are doing and why advocates say more is needed | 24CA News

This is Part 2 of a two-part sequence on homelessness in Halifax. Here is Part 1, which incorporates interviews with unhoused folks and repair suppliers.

As the variety of unhoused folks continues to develop in Nova Scotia, municipal and provincial officers say they’re working to get folks off the road as rapidly as attainable.

But with no set goal dates and winter setting in, service suppliers and outreach staff say time is of the essence.

“Winter is here. The ground is cold, the ground is frozen,” Nathan Doucet, an outreach employee with Out of the Cold Community Association, mentioned in a latest interview.

“I’m worried that we’re going to see loss of life. I’m worried that we’re going to see loss of limbs.”

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Halifax outreach employee on metropolis’s homelessness disaster this winter

According to the newest numbers from the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, there are at the least 734 actively homeless folks within the Halifax space alone. That quantity was 467 at the moment final yr.

Data is sparse outdoors of Halifax, but it surely’s estimated there are a whole lot extra unhoused folks in different areas of the province.

Karla MacFarlane, Nova Scotia’s minister of group providers, instructed Global News that the rise in homelessness in recent times is “disappointing,” noting that the housing disaster is affecting communities throughout the nation.

“It certainly is something that we take very seriously,” she mentioned.

“Our government has made significant investments to ensure that there (are) emergency shelters and supportive housing across the province, and we’ll continue making those necessary investments.”

MacFarlane pointed to the Overlook – a supportive housing challenge at a former resort in Dartmouth – as one instance. MacFarlane mentioned they’re engaged on transferring folks in now.

The first challenge of its variety in Nova Scotia, the Overlook is supported by the province, in addition to the federal and municipal governments by means of the Rapid Housing Initiative. It will home as much as 65 folks.

“We’re just really excited that these individuals are going to have a place to call home,” she mentioned.

MacFarlane mentioned it was a “unique model” that she’s enthusiastic about, and mentioned “anything is on the table” on the subject of probably increasing this system.

She additionally mentioned the province just lately invested in 10 new housing assist staff throughout the province, and allotted $2 million to construct modular housing for folks experiencing homelessness or vulnerable to being homeless.

She mentioned extra info shall be introduced for that challenge within the new yr.

No targets, timeframes for decreasing homelessness

Though there are initiatives within the works, it’s unclear when the variety of unhoused folks might be anticipated to start happening as an alternative of up.

MacFarlane mentioned her division is working intently with the Department of Housing, with a purpose of discovering folks everlasting housing options.

Asked if the province has set tangible targets and timeframes for that purpose, she mentioned “it’ll never happen as fast as any of us want it.”

“This government has made significant investments in housing and will continue, but will it happen as fast as we wish it could? Probably not,” she mentioned.

“But we certainly are making those investments, we are committed, we are dedicated, and we will keep fighting.”

In an interview final week, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage mentioned whereas housing is a provincial duty, the homelessness disaster “really … is the responsibility of all of us.”

“If we could just kind of put the jurisdiction to the side, see what the problem is, and see how each of us can help, that’s the way to do it,” he mentioned.

Savage mentioned the municipality works intently with the provincial authorities on homelessness. He mentioned the Overlook is one instance of various ranges of presidency coming collectively to work on a problem.

Savage mentioned homelessness is an issue inherited from earlier governments of all political stripes, however the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial points that got here with it exacerbated the disaster.

Traditionally, although, he mentioned provincial governments haven’t understood the significance of getting really reasonably priced housing.

“Homelessness has not been seen as a crisis, even though it’s been a crisis for individuals in this community for a long time,” he mentioned.

Encampments ‘a sign of the system not working’

In the summer time, Halifax regional council designated 4 websites in parks the place unhoused folks might camp. A fifth web site has since been established within the Sackville space.

The mayor mentioned they’re not supreme, however they do present a spot the place folks can keep. He mentioned the town supplies providers for these areas like sanitation, rubbish pickup and water dropoffs.

“It’s a sign of the system not working – that we need to accommodate people to live in tents or sheds,” Savage mentioned.

“It shouldn’t be that way, but for some people, it’s the only solution. And if they are going to live in that circumstance, then I think we need to make it as usable as possible for them.”

However, at the least one unhoused particular person says providers at these websites are missing. Global News spoke with a person named Kyle final week, who mentioned his neighbours on the web site the place he was staying have all left attributable to a rat infestation.

Savage mentioned as a harbour metropolis, Halifax has its share of rat issues, however mentioned if there are points on the parks, the town desires to listen to about it.

“We should know about that and make sure we’re doing everything we can. Nobody should deserve to live like that,” he mentioned.

Doucet, the outreach employee for Out of the Cold, mentioned final week he wish to see extra authorities officers visiting the encampment websites and talking with unhoused folks about what their wants are.

“There’s such a disparity between those who are making the decisions and those who are actually going through it,” he mentioned.

In his interview, Savage mentioned he toured the tenting websites earlier than they opened. Asked if he would go to them once more to talk with these dwelling there, he mentioned he could be “always happy to do that,” however added that he doesn’t need to intrude on folks.

“If it’s helpful, I’m happy to talk, but people have the right to their dignity and their privacy, and they don’t need to be intruded upon all the time,” he mentioned.

Savage mentioned he has lengthy been desirous about homelessness and poverty and has “always made a point of talking to people who are experiencing it.”

‘A Band-Aid over a gaping wound’

Savage famous the town has arrange a “lived experience committee,” which just lately introduced a report back to council towards the top of November.

According to the report, interviews have been carried out with 16 unhoused folks in HRM, through which they have been requested questions on how they turned homeless, the place they have been sheltering, their issues round security and policing, and what might enhance their state of affairs.

The report made quite a few suggestions round higher supporting folks dwelling in encampments – however famous that what’s actually wanted is extra really reasonably priced housing.

“Normalizing homeless encampments is a necessity that no one feels good about – it is putting a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. Most people working directly on this issue agree that it is the best form of harm-reduction we can implement for the current state and outlook of the problem,” the report said.

“Halifax needs more social, supportive, and deeply affordable housing options across all points of the housing spectrum. This is the only practical solution for ending homelessness in our community.”

Savage agreed.

“We need more permanent, deeply affordable housing for people who need it,” he mentioned.

“I don’t think you can solve this problem just on a private-sector basis. I think that governments have to accept that they have to be directly involved in some of the housing.”

More public housing wanted

Advocates, specialists, service suppliers and unhoused folks have lengthy been calling for extra public housing within the province.

The bulk of public housing in Nova Scotia was developed earlier than the Nineteen Seventies. After the Second World War, the federal authorities made main investments in public housing throughout the nation, however by the Nineteen Nineties, these investments largely disappeared.

As the price of dwelling rises, demand for public housing has additionally elevated. Between January and September 2022, the wait-list for public housing grew 10 per cent, sitting at 6,596 candidates – representing greater than half of the 11,200 public models obtainable.

While some “affordable” housing initiatives have been introduced in recent times, these costs are often primarily based on market charges – which have risen exorbitantly – slightly than earnings ranges. Affordable housing is often outlined as costing 30 per cent or much less of somebody’s earnings.

Eric Jonsson, who works as a avenue navigator with the town, says he’s a “firm believer” within the philosophy of housing first: getting a roof over somebody’s head, after which offering the wraparound helps they want.

“I’ve seen that work in so many people who you wouldn’t think could live independently … you put a roof over their head, and not all the time, but a lot of the time, most parts of their life really, really improve,” Jonsson mentioned.

“The biggest issue is just finding a place, finding a landlord that would rent to you.”

Jonsson mentioned extra non-profit and public housing may help folks get their foot within the door and off the road.

Working with what we’ve

But for now, the province is specializing in enhancing its present public housing system slightly than constructing extra, in keeping with Housing Minister John Lohr.

In an interview, Lohr mentioned the province is reorganizing how public housing is managed by making a Crown company to handle its 5 regional public housing authorities.

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Nova Scotia plans to create single Crown company to supervise public housing

He pointed to an auditor common report from June that discovered the province’s present public housing provide was being poorly managed. One of the problems was that of “overhousing” – tenants dwelling in models bigger than they require and households remaining on the wait-list.

“We know that if we dealt with overhousing, we could take a thousand people off the list,” Lohr instructed Global News.

He mentioned that work received’t be straightforward, as folks may not need to transfer, however he mentioned the federal government is dedicated to creating certain they’d stay in a public housing unit.

However, Lohr mentioned overhousing is only one challenge, and the report had “quite an extensive list of issues” in public housing that have to be addressed.

“We’re trying to do a better job in that, and maybe after that we’ll look at it (creating more),” he mentioned. “We don’t feel we have a handle on that. So adding more to the mix is not really how we want to go about it right now.”

He mentioned at the moment, it prices about $165 million per yr to run public housing, and the province takes in about $65 million in hire, leaving them with a invoice of about $100 million.

“So that’s one reason why we need to look at how we’re doing it and see if we can do it better and more efficiently,” he mentioned, although he added there are different applications and funding within the works.

Last week, the province mentioned it might allocate $12.5 million by means of the Community Housing Infrastructure and Repair Program to assist co-operative housing teams and non-profit housing suppliers full capital repairs to enhance well being, security and accessibility.

Lohr famous that the province is working with companions to extend and protect reasonably priced models.

Over the summer time, for example, the province launched a lending program that might permit non-profit organizations to buy present housing models. About 300 reasonably priced models have been saved by means of that program, he mentioned.

Another key associate is the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which administers the Rapid Housing Initiative.

“We know that if we work with partners, we can make our money go further. We know that for sure,” mentioned Lohr. “So we’re doing that in many, many different areas.”

Meanwhile, Jonsson, the road navigator, believes there’s room for the province to raised use the general public models they have already got whereas creating new ones.

“There’s been such chronic underfunding of public housing over the years that people have a bad image in their mind of, like, bedbugs and falling apart units, which sometimes is the case, but I think most of those problems would go away if you funded it appropriately,” he mentioned.

“I think it goes hand in hand with taking care of existing stock and making sure it’s not falling apart, but also building more, because I really don’t think the private market is the answer for a lot of people.”

— with information from Alicia Draus