By-name list approach helps address homelessness as winter approaches

People who work with the homeless in New Brunswick's cities met Tuesday in Fredericton to discuss how a new co-ordinated approach is working and what more needs to be done as the winter approaches.

The intake system has improved since the three major cities began compiling real-time, by-name lists of the homeless, said Michael MacKenzie, community development co-ordinator for the Human Development Council in Saint John.

But he says it's time to take more preventive steps toward ending homelessness.

"We can be housing people as effectively and efficiently as possible, but if we're not stopping the inflow to homelessness then we're not really going to see that meaningful progress in the data that we want to see," he said.

Focusing on prevention "can be hard, and it takes a lot of work and a lot of time on the part of case managers," but other jurisdictions that have put significant resources into it have seen decreases of 40 to 50 per cent in the inflow, said MacKenzie.

"Homelessness is a complex issue and it only becomes more complex the longer that someone is homeless,: MacKenzie said. "So if we can stop them from becoming homeless in the first place it's better all around," he said.

In Moncton, the last 12 people living in a tent city on Albert Street have to find a new place to stay by Wednesday after the city issued an eviction notice, urging them to move to shelters.

In Saint John, about 135 people are homeless and of those, 30 were "sleeping rough," typically outdoors, as of the last count on Sept. 5, said MacKenzie.

Local officials are scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss next steps for those individuals.

MacKenzie expects the actual number of people sleeping rough may be higher since it tends to be more of a "hidden" issue in Saint John, which has Rockwood Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country.

Still, he's optimistic they'll be able to find shelter for them, as long as there are rent subsidies available through the Department of Social Development and landlords willing to participate.

The city had a similar number of people sleeping rough at this time last year, and officials were able to find shelter for most of them, he said.

It was a busy summer for Saint John shelters. A total of 170 people used a shelter between June 1 and Aug. 31 and the shelters had a combined occupancy rate of 101 per cent, said MacKenzie.

But the various agencies working to end homelessness have made progress, with 55 people placed in housing since December, when the by-name approach was adopted, he said.

"It allows us to prioritize people in a standard way. So we, as a community, have agreed on certain factors — whether it be the length of homelessness, so whether they're chronically homeless, or their sleeping arrangement, whether they're sleeping rough or staying in a shelter, if they're pregnant or not, if they're a youth or a senior."

The list also enables the agencies to connect individuals with the housing program that best suits them.