BY: DANIEL KORN
Since April 2009, the government of Medicine Hat—a city in Alberta—has instituted a Housing First solution to homelessness, which provides subsidized, permanent housing for the homeless. Out of the 1,000 homeless individuals that inhabit the city, 885 have now been placed in a home; if all goes well, the city will have completely eliminated homelessness by the end of 2015.
The traditional refutation of a system like this comes from a deeply misplaced perception that homeless people find themselves in such circumstances due to laziness or a lack of self-control, and that giving them “handouts” supports said behaviour. This ignores systemic issues that keep people from being able to support themselves, like institutionalized racial prejudice, inaccessible mental health care, and rampant income inequality.
The traditional refutation of a system like this comes from a deeply misplaced perception that giving “handouts” to homeless people supports laziness or a lack of self-control. This ignores systemic issues like institutionalized racial prejudice, inaccessible mental health care, and rampant income inequality.
People also tend not to realize that it costs a lot of taxpayer money to merely deal with the symptoms of homelessness. Alberta’s Ministry of Human Services estimates that it takes about $100,000 CAD per year to support a single homeless person with the necessary health, emergency, and justice services. By contrast, providing housing to the homeless costs less than $35,000 annually, and is much better at breaking the cycle of homelessness. It’s this simple fact that got Ted Clungston, the Conservative-affiliated Mayor of Medicine Hat, to approve the plan.
The Housing First solution is less of an end than a beginning, towards a future in which poverty is virtually non-existent. Many homeless individuals are stricken with addiction and mental health issues, but are unable to afford rehabilitation; providing them with proper homes makes it easier for support services to coordinate the care that these individuals need to get back on their feet. One also imagines that gaining a home after years of living on the streets is an instant mental health boost.
The Housing First solution is less of an end than a beginning. One might imagine how gaining a home after years of living on the streets is an instant mental health boost and spurring individuals back on their feet, breaking the cycle of homelessness.
Thankfully, Canada has been relatively accepting of the Housing First initiative in places other than Medicine Hat. Six other cities in Alberta, including major cities Edmonton and Calgary, have taken a Housing First approach, and have seen a 16 per cent overall drop in homelessness since 2008 as a result. In Vancouver—a city notorious for its rapidly increasing homeless population in the 1990s and early 2000s— hundreds of homeless people have been put into permanent homes, though the city still has much work to do in this respect. The federal government has also devoted itself to a Housing First plan until at least 2019.
Other countries have followed suit, with the Obama administration listing the method as a best practice for eliminating chronic homelessness, and Finland and France both instituting similar measures.
Providing housing to the homeless costs less than $35,000 annually. Alberta’s Ministry of Human Services estimates that it takes about $100,000 CAD per year to support a single homeless person with the necessary health, emergency, and justice services.
