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Homelessness, Addiction and Mental Health

Nixon doesn’t have a problem if the federal government wants to deal directly with Alberta’s two largest cities. But, he noted both municipalities have been public about financial challenges.

“I think that their perspective would be that they’d like Fraser to come back to the province who’s in the best position to provide that matching money,” Nixon said.
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TAS said:
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They have been in the process of closing the church for years. Drop-in Programs ceased a few years ago, and only the food bank was left. The loss of the Boyle, Jasper Place, Bissell, Lighthouse, and Mustard Seed drop in programs over the last few years is a big part of the reason you see more people on the street, nowhere else for them to go and hang out that doesn't cost money/is a library.

I wish we could save the building, but it was rotting badly when I worked in the building 15 years ago. Would take an immense amount of effort/money to restore it and I just don't see that happening.
 
Numbers are just getting worse. Frostbite amputations reached record high last winter - even more probably expected this winter. I saw a man standing outside Safeway yesterday in really poor condition. He had no fingers.

16% of the numbers are youth 15 years or younger.

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And its only going to get worse unless something major changes, that number will easily hit 10k in the next few years. The economics of being a single person on Income Support who isn't valuable to the labor market doesn't add up. And with unemployment in Edmonton at 9% there are a lot of people with no value to the labour market.

Monthly Income Support rate is $824 a month: $365 for rent, $469 for all other living expenses.
The absolute bottom of the market for a 1 bedroom place is $900/month and those places can be counted in the dozens.
The subsidized housing waitlist is over 20,000 people long and growing, with priority given to families and those with disabilities.
Carbon tax rebates makes up an additional 10% of this community's income at $900 a year. Once Smith/Poilievre kill it that will only make things worse.

Homeward Trust provides a 1 rent year subsidy to some people in their program, but once their year ends they are back in this situation. And the need far outstrips their funding. Similar with the Recovery supports, once you deal with you addiction you end up right back in the same place all over again.

In the past, people could cobble together enough to pay rent through odd jobs, a patchwork of benefits, and living off food bank/soup kitchens. This no longer works and all of those supports are stretched to the max.

The bottom end of our society is crumbling and we are not prepared for what is coming.
 
There's a park a block from my house that used to, every few months, be the site of a different homeless person setting up a temporary shelter maybe every couple of months. Usually, it was just a tent that would stay up for a night or two, tops.

In the past year, there's a new "encampment" in this same spot at least once a week. One of them caught fire, which at least got a swift response from the city.

I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing a dramatic rise in the visibly homeless in their community. The situation is pretty bleak out there for far too many people.
 
Note that the number of people provisionally accommodated has also gone up, the number unaccommodated has gone from 462 a year a go to 1162 of those counted. Last year the province and City tripled the amount of shelter spaces to almost 1700. Hopefully that can happen again this winter. Also there's a major gap in daytime shelter spaces, even though the province says they pay providers to provide 24/7 spaces it doesn't happen.
 
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Elephant in the room here - but 99.99999999999% of these folks are Indigenous - so now I'm a racist. But more needs to be done to get their elders, Chiefs, whomever - involved and get them back to the Res's, tribal lands - wherever. Make them more accountable for their peeps.
 
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