Sydney conference discusses homelessness problem

Through his work as a co-ordinator at Sydney's Ally Centre helping clients with HIV and Hepatitis C, Shawn Murray says he knows of a couple hundred people living in deplorable conditions.

"I have clients that don't even have a working fridge or stove," he told a conference Wednesday on affordable housing and homelessness in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. 

"Holes in the floors, mould, mouse, rat infestations, and that's what they are forced to deal with because they can't afford anything else."

One of the issues is the disparity between income and rental costs, especially for young people, the conference heard. 

The median cost of a decent one-bedroom unit in the CBRM is $650 plus utilities, but the housing allowance through provincial income assistance is $535, according to Cape Breton University associate professor, Catherine Leviten-Reid. 

Her research shows vacancy rates are low for low-cost apartments, but higher-priced units are available.

"With the higher-cost units, you see that 14 per cent of them experienced a vacancy in the past year," she said. "That tells me that cost of housing is the issue and rent supplements are the answer."

Leviten-Reid said a housing allowance increase of $115 a month could make a huge difference for people on income assistance.

A real-time, one-day study conducted last April found there were 137 people in the CBRM without a home of any kind. The one-month count found 304.

The situation has been termed a "quiet crisis" because much of the homelessness is hidden and many in the community are unaware of the problem.

"People don't see poor housing if they are living in good housing," said Murray.