Neighborhood groups working to embark on regional homelessness in Alberta

Key takeaways: 

• Region states committee proved to give guidance.
• The Eagle’s Nest Motel in Whitecourt currently operates as transitional accommodation for neighborhood members at threat of being homeless.

Community people to tackle homelessness in Alberta: 

Advocates taking on regional homelessness in Alberta state that the existing patchwork of budget available makes it hard to progress.

Sydney Stenekes is the director of homelessness ambitions with the Rural Development Network, a jovial development non-profit supporting regional communities. She stated the pandemic had emphasized some of the issues. 

“I think COVID has only deepened the problems that regional communities and other communities are encountering,” she stated. Source – cbc.ca

She stated that rural homelessness usually is much more remote than cities. Usually, it can be Couchsurfing, sleeping in a car, or packed housing, especially in Indigenous communities.

Stenekes stated that neighborhood groups had been organized at provincial and regional levels.

“Those task details and homelessness coalitions are essential in getting together service providers and other stakeholders to have those challenging discussions.” Source – cbc.ca

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Some local communities and municipalities have set overnight mat programs; she stated that saving lives and keeping individuals out of the cold is the first step.

The Slave Lake Homeless Coalition Society began the previous summer after another local agency could no longer cover the mat program’s price for years.

Grant, through RDN, let them set up the program this winter but seeing space has been a challenge, according to committee co-chair Danielle Larivee. 

The coalition could contract with the regional Northern Star Motel as a temporary solution. 

Society now has an interim commercial space. The overnight shelter sees approximately eight individuals each night but has struck its maximum occupancy of 14 on freezing nights. 

“We’re not sad with it, but we don’t see it as an enduring location,” Larivee stated. The team is looking toward a future when it can deliver supporting housing with wraparound supports — one primarily dependent on the constant grant. Source – cbc.ca