By Sarah Stone

Homeless strategies discussed at community level

Mar 6, 2014 | 5:12 AM

Shared concerns over homelessness were expressed in Prince Albert on Wednesday afternoon.

Several public agencies gathered at the Exhibition Centre to take part in an information session on Housing First, which is an approach to end homelessness. This model suggests taking high-risk people off the streets and put them directly into permanent housing, and then help them stay there by providing recover oriented services.

“[Housing First] has been proven to be effective in new communities across Canada and in the United States. We believe that by bring it to Prince Albert and working together as agencies and involving homeless people as well in the process we can develop a strategy that will work in our community,” said Riverbank Development Corporation manager Brian Howell.

The aim of Wednesday’s session was also to take input from the community and use it to develop a community plan for the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS). HPS is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness by providing direct support and funding to 61 designated communities across Canada.

Prince Albert gets $365,000 a year in funding.

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Funding can also going to individualized services for people “so housing referral, or counselling, or employment counselling or that kind of stuff, as well as building projects and research and co-ordination of resources,” Howell said.

“Homeless is a problem in our community. It’s often a hidden problem, but it does affect a lot individuals and families. It’s caused by many things ranging from poverty, to substance abuse, to mental health or some combination of the above,” he said.

The last time the community came together to set a plan was in 2011 and this time, according Howell, they will be seeking the input of homeless people.

“We do intend to consult a bit, especially with homeless people in the community, before we develop a plan and we’re going to do that through the various agencies that work with homeless—perhaps through setting up some focus groups,” he said.

All of this information will go to HPS over the next five-year cycle.

Howell estimates the plan will be done at the end of March or April.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84