New $63M 'blueprint' to end homelessness in Regina released
Contributions from the three levels of government have not yet been confirmed
A plan to end homelessness could cost $63 million over five years, but the researchers and advocates behind it say the price tag is far cheaper than not acting.
The blueprint, called "Everyone is Home: A Five-Year Plan to End Chronic and Episodic Homelessness in Regina", outlines the actions that must happen to end it.
However, now the plan needs funding. The roles and contributions of the three levels of government have not been confirmed yet.
The strategy is based on a "housing first" philosophy, said Terin Kennedy, who is Director of Regina's Plan to End Homelessness. The model provides long-term housing arrangements to homeless people while also connecting them with social and health supports.
"It's not only just putting the people in the homes, it's having those supports; meeting these people where they're at," she said.
"We're not looking for sobriety. We're looking to get them in there and get these wraparound supports for them."
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Of the $63 million, $38 million would go toward program supports.
Advocates say it could cost the public $75 million over the next five years if no action is taken, adding that one homeless person with addictions and mental health issues uses about $55,000 a year in health care and corrections costs alone.
In contrast, it said implementing the plan would only cost $15 per day per person.
The plan lists 270 new "housing first" spaces as priority investments. These would cost $5.5 million per year. Only 30 currently exist. It also calls for 80 additional units of supportive housing, with a $15 million price tag.
The researchers are hoping for $40.5 million from the province specifically for treatment spaces, intensive case management spaces and for new permanent and affordable housing units.
The plan suggests close to 2,200 chronically and episodic homeless people could be helped.
Takes a toll
A plan like this might have allowed Roy Ironchild to spend a few more nights indoors rather than seeking warmth in vents during cold Saskatchewan nights, the Regina man said.
Ironchild became homeless after a bad separation around six years ago.
"I failed to kind of adjust. There was a lot of coping mechanisms I needed at the time," Ironchild told CBC Radio's The Morning Edition.
"I was out and about. I was out in the alleys; I was out in the parkades; I was out in abandoned buildings. You name it, I was out there."
Living on the street was a lot of work and a highly stressful situation, he said. Ironchild slept anywhere he could — construction sites, heating vents — even in –40 C windchill. He said he would sometimes wake up to find someone left him food or money, but he still had to become very resourceful and alert.
"You, generally, after years and years, you get used to always keeping one eye open, you know when you sleep," Ironchild said. "So, like physically that takes a toll on you."
That's not a problem for Ironchild anymore. He has since moved into a housing first program with the Phoenix Residential Society.
"It was like winning the lottery," he said.
The biggest thing for Ironchild was having a sanctuary. A place to live allowed him to do things that so many take for granted, like making plans with friends.
Ironchild said he hopes the new plan clears up misconceptions about homeless people. He said guilt and shame compounded all the other struggles he faced during homelessness.
"This is an important moment in time — where we change how we deal with people who have nowhere to go," said Robert Byers, chair of the Regina Homelessness Community Advisory Board and CEO of Namerind Housing Corporation.
He wants the homeless population to hear that "these community leaders and this community care — and that you do belong."
His speech on Thursday was guided by his personal experience.
"Growing up in Saskatchewan, I never felt like I belonged. At 14, I discovered drugs and alcohol," Byers said.
He said 25 years of addiction followed and he was homeless during portions of that time. Then somebody reached out to him.
"Once I believed that somebody cared, that's when my life started to change," he said.
Byers noted that, like himself, 80 per cent of homeless people identified in Regina's last count were Indigenous.
"But it's important to realize that this is not just a homelessness issue, nor is it just an Indigenous issue — but it does speak to the truth and reconciliation calls to action, which (are) important to all of us."
With files from CBC Radio's The Morning Edition