Housing First

Why Housing First Failed In Canada

June 30, 2024 Laurence Braun-Woodbury, Canadian Dimension. Create! Canada, Decommodify, Homelessness, Housing, Housing First

Every day more Canadians are being pressed into homelessness. Shelters are overflowing. Tent cities are ubiquitous. Diseases more commonly associated with refugee camps have popped up with alarming frequency in inner-cities across the country. The numbers are devastating: up to 300,000 Canadians will experience homelessness this year—a substantial increase from the 235,000 who were homeless in 2016. Cities are scrambling to find solutions; sanctioned encampments, increased shelter capacity, forced removal by police. Nothing is working. It’s a crisis the federal government has been trying to solve.

Denver’s Housing First Initiative A ‘Remarkable Success’

August 26, 2021 Robert Davis, Invisible People. Create! Denver, Homelessness, Housing, Housing First

Colorado - A five-year evaluation of Denver’s Social Impact Bond (SIB) program by The Urban Institute found the housing first initiative is a “remarkable success” at reducing chronic homelessness. In all, the study found that 79 percent of people who received treatment under the program were engaged in stable housing. Those referred to SIB spent an average of 560 more days in housing than people who received other community assistance. Overall, the study analyzed the cases of 724 program participants. After one year, 86 percent of people remained in stable housing. After two years, the number stood at 81 percent. And, after three years, over 77 percent of participants remained housed. The program—one of the first in the country—also reduced shelter visits and police contacts for participants.

Victoria’s ‘Big Idea’ Pays Off In Housing For People In Need

March 29, 2021 Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist. Create! Canada, COVID-19, Housing, Housing First

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and councillors Ben Isitt and Jeremy Loveday were met with a heavy dose of skepticism back in 2015 when they proposed that the Capital Regional District borrow $50 million to build supportive housing for people without homes. Helps recalled Friday that their “big idea” was mocked by some and discounted by others as unworkable or too costly. More than five years later, however, their proposal — later scaled back to $30 million — has pried matching money from the federal and provincial governments, and continues to produce results. On Friday, the CRD’s Regional Housing First Program announced the completion of its latest project — 120 new affordable homes in a six-storey rental building on Hockley Avenue in Langford.

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