The StreetoHome Foundation: Working to End Homelessness in Vancouver

Vancouver has one of the highest rates of homelessness in Canada. The lack of affordable and supportive housing has left hundreds of people without a warm, safe and decent home. It is estimated that there are over 1,700 people living on the streets and in shelters in Vancouver. 50 percent of these are people who are chronically homeless, having gone without a home for over a year. And the problem is growing. Homelessness rates have jumped an estimated 22% in the Vancouver area over past four years.

Homelessness is, first and foremost, an issue of human dignity. As image-bearers of God, people have the right to live with dignity and have the resources necessary for their health and well-being. A lack decent, affordable housing with adequate supports robs people of their right to have a safe and secure home. It can also have long-term impacts on their health and quality of life. Homelessness and housing insecurity are both symptoms and causes of persistent poverty in Canada, and require short and long-term strategies to adequately address them.

Many individuals, non-profit organizations, businesses, community groups and government agencies in Vancouver are engaged in the fight against homelessness. One unique organization doing so is the StreetoHome Foundation, which was officially launched in February 2009.

StreetoHome envisions that by 2015 all people who are experiencing homelessness in Vancouver will have access to safe, decent and affordable housing as well as the supports necessary to sustain it. It aims to achieve this by building partnerships between all sectors in the community, including governments, business, non-profits and citizens.

StreetoHome’s short-term strategy is to create a QuickStart Service Program to provide supportive housing for the chronically homeless in Vancouver. Over the next six years, the organization’s long-term strategy is to address the systemic and structural causes of homelessness by identifying the housing needs of those living on the street, establishing partnerships with organizations that can help meet those needs, and tracking progress through measurable targets and timelines.

Former CPJ intern Trixie Ling is currently working as StreetoHome’s Research and Policy Analyst, and she shared her thoughts with CPJ about the organization and its work. Speaking about the importance of working to end homelessness, Trixie emphasized that, “homelessness affects everyone, not just the homeless. It affects how we share public spaces and live together in the city.”

Not only does homelessness rob people of their dignity, health and well-being, it also has a negative impact on the economy. Finding housing for the homeless is “more cost effective than leaving people on the street – particularly in the current economic climate.”

The cost of homelessness to the justice system and social and health services is significant, and far exceeds the cost of providing supportive housing to each individual living on the street. According to a Calgary study, it is estimated that each homeless person costs public services such as health care and the judicial system between $55,000 and $137,000 a year, while supportive housing for that person would cost only $37,000 a year. And the success rate of supportive housing programs is high – programs in Vancouver have found that 85% of people who make it into supportive housing stay there.

Addressing the problem of homelessness is complicated by the fact that many people living on the street struggle with mental illness, disability, addiction or other health issues. According to Trixie, for this reason StreetoHome focuses on “not just giving people housing, but giving them the necessary supports” within a safe community environment in order to help them stay housed.

While the government of British Columbia and many housing groups have been working to reduce homelessness for years, the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver has been “highlighting the urgency of the issue” to a greater extent, says Trixie.

While Vancouver has higher rates of people living on the streets than most cities, the problem of homelessness is by no means limited to the West Coast. Currently, one in four Canadians are in need of affordable housing, and thousands more go homeless each year across the country. Canada is still one of the only countries in the industrialized world that lacks a national housing strategy.

CPJ deeply values the work that Trixie and organizations such as StreetoHome are doing to combat homelessness. It serves as a reminder of the importance of working together to ensure that everyone in our society can live with dignity and that we can overcome injustice through building partnerships in community. CPJ wishes Trixie and StreetoHome all success in their ambitious endeavor, and look forward to hearing more in the future about the important initiatives they are undertaking.

CPJ continues to call upon the federal government to commit to comprehensive long-term strategic planning with appropriate funding to address homelessness and housing insecurity in Canada, and we envision the day in which each person has a safe and affordable place to call home.