Mixed reviews of homelessness talks
Two-day meeting ends with list of more than 60 recommendations to deal with issue
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, April 29, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Two days of meetings with more than two dozen people resulted in a list of more than 60 recommendations, the creation of two new committees and agreement that Housing First is one of several ways to address what's been described as a homelessness crisis in the city.
Caroline Cochrane, the territorial cabinet minister responsible for homelessness and the NWT Housing Corporation, poses for a photo Wednesday after a two-day workshop to come up with ways to address homelessness in the city. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
A list of recommendations has not been released and media were barred from the event Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre organized by Caroline Cochrane, the territorial cabinet minister responsible for homelessness.
One committee will examine the recommendations and decide what needs short-term action. Another will look at what policies may need to change to help fix homelessness. Interviews with various people who attended revealed mixed views about the outcome.
"I'm very hopeful that there will be great results coming out of it and that we will get some people housed before too much longer," said Christine Barker, who attended for social justice organization Alternatives North.
On the other hand, Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green said attendees struggled to find concrete ways to quickly help on an issue many are passionate about.
"The primary commitment is for more talking," she told Yellowknifer.
The objectives may have been too broad, Green said.
"It might have been too ambitious for the size of the group and the time that we had."
Various GNWT departments, social service groups and non-governmental organizations, business representatives as well as people who are in various stages of homelessness attended the meeting.
Cochrane said everyone has their own perspectives when told of Green's comments.
In an interview, she said some actions to address the issue are already underway, such as the city's Housing First plan. A request for proposals was issued last week for an operator of that initiative.
The minister said the meeting allowed the various groups to talk about ways to work together instead of trying to fix the issue
on their own.
"It doesn't make sense to work individually," Cochrane said.
Mayor Mark Heyck, who previously called for immediate action and not just talk, said the meeting was what he was hoping for. The mayor said he put his election promise to create a social issues task force on hold because of the meeting.
"The foundation was laid for a very robust action plan," Heyck said. He said one recommendation touched on closing the gap between when emergency shelters are open. The Safe Harbour Day Centre closes at 5 p.m. but the Salvation Army emergency shelter for men doesn't open its doors until 7 p.m., leaving a period when people are forced onto the street.
"That's going to be one of the first orders of business of the working group," Heyck said.
Another was a suggestion to create a central location for people seeking services or housing, such as a shop front.
The City of Yellowknife will be the administrative lead for a new committee reviewing the list of recommendations to decide which are of the highest priority. It will prioritize the list and come up with specific actions for those items, said Bree Denning, executive director of the Centre for Northern Families, which runs the emergency shelter for women.
"This meeting was key to define those and set the process in motion to decide where to focus our energies and have the biggest effect," Denning said.
She said the long list reflects the complexity of the issue.
Lorraine Phaneuf, executive director of the Status of Women Council of the NWT, said the council will be part of the second committee examining what policies and procedures should change to alleviate homelessness. That group will be led by the GNWT's Department of Education, Culture and Employment and will meet May 18.
"We have to look at policies that work in one place, but don't work in another," she said, such as policies on how people are selected for Housing First.
Green said she hoped the meeting would see a larger commitment to the city's Housing First plan.
"I would like to have seen that forum come forward with more explicit support," she said, suggesting that could mean tangible commitments like additional funding.
Cochrane repeated the message that the GNWT has limited funding available due to a budget crunch.
She's awaiting further details about federal funding commitments to see how that could help the situation in Yellowknife.
Coun. Linda Bussey who has spearheaded the Housing First plan on council expressed a more optimistic tone about the outcome.
"I'm pleased. There's a lot of work to do but I'm pleased the community accepts Housing First as one solution," Bussey said.
