Number of homeless Aboriginals in Edmonton static

The latest count of homeless on Edmonton streets shows the numbers are down, but the proportion of Aboriginal people without roofs over their heads remains the same.
The demographic breakdown indicates 38 per cent of those living on the streets are Aboriginal.

“I’m not sure (why the number is static from the 2008 count),” said Susan McGee, executive director with Homeward Trust Edmonton, which carries out the street count every two years. “What I would have been really concerned about is if it went really significantly up or really significantly down, because if we look at the number of people we’ve been housing, that’s fairly consistent with (our) number.”

The Oct. 5 count targeted select areas in Edmonton and revealed 2,421 people called the streets their home. The number represents the first decrease since the count was held in 1999. The previous count took place in 2008 and tallied 3,079 homeless.

“It’s a significant reduction,” said McGee, who admitted the 21 per cent decrease was cause for alarm, especially when considering Homeward Trust conducted the count and has the mandate to coordinate response to housing needs by working in cooperation with other organizations.

Not only was cross-referencing done, which included taking  shelter numbers and street numbers into account and comparing trends, but the figures were analyzed by a third party.

“I’m really confident these numbers do represent a really significant decline in our street population and shelter count that day,” said McGee.

Mayor Stephen Mandel noted that the number was also significant because it bucked the five-year trend which showed numbers of homeless increasing 15-20 per cent every year which would have the 2010 count at 3,400-3,500 people.

“So coming in at 2,400 people shows we’re stopping the growth, which is vitally important in starting to reduce the challenge of those people on the streets,” said Mandel.

He joined McGee in stating that a reduction wasn’t the end of the work that had to be undertaken by organizations like Homeward Trust along with funding commitments from the city and the provincial government.

“It’s not over with until we have no one in the street who wants to stay on the street, then we solve the problem,” said Mandel.

The next stage, he said, was tackling the issues that surround homelessness.

Some of those issues include mental health problems and addictions to drugs and alcohol.

McGee said finding housing for the homeless was only the first part of the equation. Making sure people maintain their housing was just as important and involved intensive support in the first year to ensure success.

Over 1,000 people have been housed through the Housing First initiative in the last 18 months. McGee said in light of the program’s success, it would be easy for her organization to work on increasing the number of people housed.

“We need to make sure the supports are there and we don’t get overly ambitious in trying to house people too quickly,” said McGee.

She noted housing targets have been reduced to 500 this year and will only be increased if support is available for newly housed residents.