‘Homelessness is a solvable problem’: Campaign aims to house 20K by 2018

EDMONTON – A nation-wide initiative is aiming to get 20,000 Canadians off the streets.

The 20,000 Homes Campaign was launched Monday morning in Edmonton. The campaign wants to make permanent housing available for 20,000 homeless people across Canada by July 2018.

It focuses on homeless people who are at exceptionally high risk for health problems and safety risks; what Homeward Trust refers to as the “chronically homeless.”

Two dozen cities and towns are joining Edmonton in the campaign.

READ MORE: Affordable housing a hot topic at Edmonton’s latest homeless connect

The Homeward Trust plan is based significantly off other cities’ existing ideas for fixing homelessness, including Edmonton’s anti-homelessness plan.

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Starting in 2009, Homeward Trust launched its Housing First program. This program has taken 5,000 people off of Edmonton’s streets, giving them steady and safe places to live.

“Homelessness is a solvable problem. You’ve proven it by doing it,” said Tim Richter, the president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.

“So much of what the 20,000 Homes Campaign is built on is what we’ve learned from what you’ve done.”

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READ MORE: Ending racism, providing affordable housing among recommendations to end poverty

Despite the plan’s successes, there is still work to do. Edmonton’s last homeless count showed there were more than 2,300 homeless people living in the city. While 5,000 people found homes through the Housing First plan, another 4,000 people became homeless.

Mayor Don Iveson insists that more must be done.

“This anti-poverty work we’re doing is critical to stopping that supply, and we know we need more housing for people with deep addictions and mental health issues.”

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“We have taken 5,000 steps forward, and 4,000 steps back,” he added.

Housing 20,000 people in less than three years is an ambitious task, but Richter believes it is necessary.

“It’s not like we don’t know what to do to end homelessness. It isn’t rocket science. We’ve done it. You’ve done it. You’ve shown the world how to,” he said.

“But what’s needed to end homelessness in Canada is a breakthrough in our collective will.”