P.A. groups working on homelessness brainstorm ways to provide better supports during a meeting at the John M. Cuelenaere Public Library (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW)

By Alison Sandstrom

Working together

Better coordination prioritized by homelessness strategy

Sep 21, 2019 | 8:15 AM

Groups working to combat homelessness in Prince Albert gathered on Friday to plan the allocation of $500,000 of federal money.

The funding, part of the national homelessness strategy, is administered in five-year cycles.

Last time around the focus was on Housing First, a strategy that prioritizes getting people into permanent housing before providing other support services. The idea, which has been proven effective, is that people need access to necessities like food and a roof over their head, before issues like getting a job or dealing with addictions and trauma can be properly addressed.

In Prince Albert funding for Housing First saw the establishment of the YWCA’s Homeward Bound program. The initiative houses around 80-90 people in an apartment complex on Branion Drive

This time around, in addition to continuing with Housing First, the government wants organizations dealing with homelessness to focus on “coordinated access.”

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“What the government is saying is you have really good programs but they’re silos,” said Brian Howell of River Bank Development, the group in charge of distributing the federal money. “The homelessness system in our community should be connected so that the various organizations are combining their efforts and working together for the best interest of the clients.”

Coordinated access will see information about clients shared between organizations in real time. While there are concerns about confidentiality and the time-consuming nature of the data imputing, it’s thought that the system will lead to faster help for clients, less duplication of services and easier referrals.

“We don’t want Homeward Bound to be working over here in isolation, but rather collaborating with our other support programs, maybe taking people from the Cold Weather Shelter, or maybe sending people that they can’t work with to our housing support workers,” Howell told paNOW.

Input from community groups at Friday’s meeting will be used to create a local homelessness plan for 2019-2024.

Starting in November those same groups will have a chance to apply for some of that federal funding.

Organizers of tthe meeting also used it as an opportunity to share information gathered during research for the plan.

Lenore Swystun of Prairie Wild Consulting outlined how interviews with people with lived experience with homeless shaped the document. She explained that requests for more housing, detox beds, and connections to culture were heard repeatedly, but one message was heard above all others.

“The crucial thing that they said was they want to feel like human beings even when they’re on the street. ‘Look at me as a human being not as a piece of garbage.’ That was the most emphatic thing that came through,” she told the meeting.

“There’s a hell of a lot of work to do in Prince Albert, but one of the things that was inspiring on the street is that there is still hope there. Even at the most downtrodden you still hear an opportunity for hope.”

Alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom