When your next night’s sleep may be in the back of a car, a friend’s couch or outside if it’s warm enough, a bureaucratic program may not seem like it could make a difference, especially not right away.
Chantal Perry and her team are trying to change that perception.
“We’re here to help, and we can help,” she said. “No one should have to suffer unnecessarily.”
Perry is the program manager of employment and social services at Chatham-Kent and she’s proud of the progress her group has been making.
According to the group’s annual report, in the last year, 369 people moved to transitional housing after experiencing absolute homelessness while another 599 homeless people received services which lead to stable housing.
The entire report can be found at http://www.chatham-kent.ca/ess
The group is now two years into a ten-year plan to
deal with housing and homelessness in Chatham-Kent.
“We certainly have problems and lots more to do but we are finding ways to deal with it,” she said. “Rules and regulations are great but we can’t have a system where the rules preclude people who need help from getting it.”
She said designing housing programs that work on a proactive basis instead of waiting for major problems is part of the methodology.
“We’re building a system and programs designed to help people in real world situations,” said Perry. “We deal with people who are often in an immediate crisis situation and we need to get them through that crisis before we look long-term.”
She related the story of a 64-year-old man whose wife passed away after 45 years of marriage. He had provided home care for her but upon her death, her benefits (and his income) ceased.
“This man was on the verge of homelessness,” she said. “We identified that he could soon be eligible for Canada Pension and Old Age Security and we arranged for a short term housing allowance to tide him over. We helped him with other programs and he was able to stay in his home and even keep his pet dog. “
The effort uses a variety of programs because people using them come from a variety of backgrounds.
“There used to be the perception that people who are in a housing crisis situation are there because of poor choices they made,” she said. “That is simply not the case a lot of the time. Changes in income and health can have a drastic influence.”
She said programs fall into eight categories, from emergency shelter through transitional through affordable long-term housing.
She said teamwork within the community and various levels of government is key.
The Housing and Homelessness Plan and programming are guided by a steering committee made up of 24 community agencies and partners, she said.
Homelessness and shelter security programs are implemented and overseen by employment and social services. Housing services implements and oversees affordable housing, housing supply and capital project initiatives.
The shelter security team in employment and social services includes a Parry, two community relation workers, two shelter solutions case managers and one domestic violence integrated case manager.
Outside economic and social issues play a key role in the volume of those needing help.
She said factors such as the fact that 20 per cent of renters are spending more than half their income on housing play into the situation.
“We have people who every month have to choose between paying rent or eating or paying rent and paying utilities,” she said. “Even on minimum wage, it is very difficult for someone to keep up with rising costs.”
She said placing housing first on a list of priorities makes social and economic sense.
“An unstable housing situation creates tremendous social stress. People will do what they need to do to survive.”
She said traditional emergency responses are costly and short-term.
“A hospital bed costs more than $5,200, provincial jail is more than $6,600 per month, a shelter bed is over $3,000,” she said. “Rental supplements at $525 and social housing at $294 are much more affordable.”
Statistics show 60 per cent of those using public housing in Chatham-Kent are single, 21 per cent are single seniors, 12 per cent are single with children, four per cent are families with children and three per cent are couples.
She said the community needs more public housing since the average wait time for families and singles or couples is 18 months. For seniors, the average is 21 months.
“We can do more and we will,” she said. “We’re on the right track.”
