The bad news
Family, youth and adult homelessness has been a pervasive problem for decades with little indication that the dial has shifted – we continue to have the same conversations about the same problems be it 1913 in New York City or 2016 in Toronto. For example, our recently completed national survey of youth homelessness is a tale of systemic failures and missed opportunities – problems that leave thousands of Canadian children and youth deeply impoverished, marginalized and criminalized. All the more so if they experience layers of systemic discrimination that attend sexual and/or gender minority identities or Indigenous heritage. Such trajectories play out for adult, elderly and newcomer Canadians as well, as we employ inefficient systems that emphasize crisis response rather than prevention from primary to tertiary levels.
The better news
I am more hopeful now that a difference might be made since I first walked into the Ottawa Shepherds of Good Hope drop in in 1995 and asked if I could help out. We have made inroads with housing first initiatives such as At Home/Chez Soi – led by our very sorely missed CAMH colleague the late Dr. Paula Goering, who left this unparalleled legacy in Canadian community mental health research and practice. We have aligned policy engagement from municipal, to provincial and federal levels. This includes in Ontario the Local Poverty Reduction Fund, Poverty Reduction Strategy and Housing Strategy, advocacy and action by the City of Toronto and the recently released National Housing Strategy. We see national coalitions and forums organizing to coordinate efforts.
Homelessness and the Holidays: Making a difference that can last well past Boxing Day
- Homelessness and the Holidays: Making a difference that can last well past Boxing Day
