By Brian Norwood
You may desire to see the problem of homeless people in our community go away because you are a good person who doesn’t like to see anyone suffer, and that’s wonderful. I want to get rid of them because they are bleeding my wallet dry.
Research from the only city in Canada to eradicate homelessness (Medicine Hat) reveals it costs $35,000 a year to provide a home to a homeless person. That same person left to live on the streets costs taxpayers $100,000 per year, according to the Alberta Ministry of Housing.
On a national basis the cost to provide police response, medical services, other support agencies, emergency shelters and intern shelters for the homeless in Canada is racking up a $7.05 billion dollar tab each year.
Housing First Project (HFP) is a program to eliminate homelessness. It was started by a Canadian in New York 25 years ago. Former President Obama recently identified it as a top priority to resolve the homeless crisis in the U.S.
HFP has also been adopted in Canada by several major centres and is now working its way into smaller communities like ours.
Housing First has proven to be the most cost-effective method to reducing homelessness. HFP works on the simple idea you can’t help a person to make a real effort to clean up their life when all they have to look forward to at the end of the day is crawling up under a bridge with a cardboard box for a home. Thus the idea is housing first.
The federal government set aside $700 million for the Homeless Partnering Strategy (HPS), a fund made available to both private and public parties wanting to reduce homelessness in their community - but does HFP work?
HFP has reduced homelessness in Utah by 91 per cent in the past 10 years. Calgary and Edmonton have reduced homelessness 30 per cent since 2008. Vancouver is down 66 per cent in street homelessness. Medicine Hat, a city of 60,000 people, has completely eradicated homeless from their community. So why can’t little Grand Forks?
Sources I spoke to close to the problem estimate we currently have 24 people living in tents, under tarps or sleeping in cardboard boxes. Another 33 are living in old RVs or trailers with no electricity and no water.
About 14 per cent are youth still going to school and hiding from their classmates where they live. The person serving you at your local favourite fast food restaurant or the grocery clerk may well be from homeless family unable to afford a real place to live. Only about 14 per cent experience homelessness due to addictions or mental illness.
Over 80 per cent of our homeless are actually local people who live in Grand Forks year round. About 60 per cent have lived here more than five years, some were born and raised here.
I look around this town and I see places like Broad View Acres sitting dormant. Many empty buildings and barren lots. I see old trailers not in use empty houses boarded up and I think, “What a waste of potential resources.”
Could we get rid of our homeless problem? Absolutely. What would it cost? Over the next 10 years, a lot less than it is costing us now. Is there government funding to help defer our costs? Yes. What will it take to get rid of homelessness in Grand Forks?
It will take two things: First of all, it takes a community where a significant portion of the population really cares about the problem.
It matters not if your desire to solve this problem is socially motivated or is financial based. All that matters is for enough people to want the problem resolved. Here in Grand Forks I know we have the social and financial fortitude to make a Housing First Program (HFP) work.
Next you need a city council capable of making things happen. A small group of elected officials capable of working together in the best interest of their community.
Well, it was just a thought.