![]() I’ll have more to say in a future column about the radical overhaul it sets out. In that vein, I took note that the province finally released its long overdue affordable housing strategy a couple of weeks ago. Of course, the best approach over the long term is to stop relying so heavily on shelters and instead put the focus on affordable and supportive housing. Serious strategizing needs to begin immediately to ensure a more robust and organized response for the 2022-23 time frame and beyond, especially since COVID and its economic effects are likely to be with us for some time yet. Hopefully, the efforts are enough to avoid a serious crisis this winter, but hope is not a reliable plan. ![]() If all of this feels like a messy, slapdash, inadequate response built with a lot of wishful thinking, you are not alone. As such, there is a significant risk of outbreaks in shelter facilities, which could affect how many people they can safely take.) ![]() (Of note, social service officials estimate just 30-40 per cent of homeless Edmontonians are COVID vaccinated. If those hurdles are overcome, the stadium could host between 120 and 150 people, which still potentially leaves a gap of up to 230 spaces. That will mean more lives lost, more cost to the health and justice systems, and more difficulty kickstarting economic recovery in the core.Ī service provider and provincial funding are still needed to get the pods operating. Without more spaces, somewhere, such people will end up in alleys, businesses, hospitals, police stations and other places they shouldn’t be. “Without further mitigation measures, a significant gap in services will remain,” the city report says, which is the bureaucratic way of declaring that 350 people may have nowhere to go each night. Yes, various efforts are underway by agencies to create more spaces in existing facilities or operate some temporary shelters throughout the winter, and there is optimism the province will come through with funding for that.īut even if all that works out, it still won’t be near enough. However, that still leaves around 1,200 people who need emergency shelter beds most nights, which is a huge problem considering the city’s traditional providers currently have room for barely half of them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
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