HOUSING FIRST
|
Tweet | ||||
Housing First is an effective, common sense approach to resolving homelessness. The first step to solving the problem is to find people permanent homes and then give them the support they need to be successful in those homes.
This approach works because it recognizes that people need the stability of a home, something we often take for granted, in order to deal with the underlying issues that create or are caused by chronic homelessness. The best place to deal with those issues is in a safe, secure home, not on the street or in an emergency shelter. With a home and the supports they need, they can become part of our community.
This approach has been successful across Canada and the United States, and right here in Edmonton. And it is cost effective! Studies across North America estimate the annual cost of providing services to a chronically homeless person including shelters, social services, health care, policing, ambulance and court costs, averages a $100,000 per year, whereas that same person can be housed and supported for $35,000 per year.
NO LONGER WITH US STORIES
Below you can view and share the five different stories from the campaign. Spread the word:
|
|
|
|
|
EDMONTON’S 10 YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS
After watching homelessness rise 125% since 2000, a group of prominent community leaders were gathered together by Mayor Mandel to form the Edmonton Committee to End Homelessness, seeking to find an innovative roadmap to end chronic homelessness in Edmonton within ten years. Drawing on an enormous body of evidence and the diversity of expertise within the Committee, the Committee determined the best approach to ending chronic homelessness in Edmonton is through the Housing First. The Committee made Housing First the bedrock principle of Edmonton’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness because it focuses on taking chronically homeless individuals off the street by first ensuring that they have stable housing and the supports to keep that home rather than attempting to merely manage chronic homelessness through shelters and drop-in centres. After just two years, the 10-Year Plan is already yielding tremendous results.
To learn more about the Committee and to read the full 10-Year Plan and its subsequent updates, please visit the Edmonton Committee to End Homelessness website: www.endedmontonhomelessness.com