Fredericton hopes to end chronic homelessness in 5 years
Coun. Mike O'Brien says creation of tent city beside the St. John River grabs the attention of the public
Fredericton is hoping it can eradicate chronic homelessness in the capital city within the next five years as two local shelters are already at capacity.
The subject of homelessness in Fredericton was thrust back into the spotlight this week because of a makeshift tent city erected on the riverbank.
Coun. Mike O'Brien said on Information Morning Fredericton that when something such as a tent city happens, it grabs the public's attention. "It tugs on the heartstrings, they want to do something but they forget about it so quickly.
It tugs on the heartstrings, they want to do something but they forget about it so quickly.- Coun. Mike O'Brien
It's basically invisible in this city," O'Brien said.
Both the men's and women's homeless shelters in Fredericton have been running close to or at capacity lately, forcing some homeless people to live in tents along the St. John River.
O'Brien said Fredericton's plan to end homelessness, called The Road Home, is a road map for ending chronic homelessness within the next four to five years.
"I think we can have the co-ordination within our community to end chronic homelessness,the 70 to 80 people that are chronically on the streets or in shelters. It can be done," he said.
The plan, which was announced in June, will cost an estimated $10 million. It outlines the development of 39 new housing units and 36 program spaces in Fredericton within four years.
O'Brien, who is the chair of the Community Action Group on Homelessness, says all three levels of government have to come together to eradicate the problem.
Along with those who are chronically homeless, O'Brien said there are 700 to 800 people that can experience homelessness at any point during the year..
"They may be couch surfing in somebody's basement," the councillor said.
"They're not on the street but close to it, so we wait for them to fail and then we pick them up.There is away forward and it's the Housing First model."
O'Brien said the goal of Housing First is to find enough places for people to live, triage them when they go into the shelter, within 10 to 20 days move them out into a safe spot and have wrap around services to help them succeed.