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Hundreds attend homelessness program launch
Spirit Sands Singers kicked off a news conference at Thunderbird House this morning on the launch of Home Chez Soi, a Canada Mental Health Commission study that will try to find the best mix of housing a support for homeless Aboriginal people in Manitoba. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
WINNIPEG - A new national program that will provide a roof over the heads of more than 1,300 people — including 300 in Winnipeg — was officially launched today.
A couple of hundred people, including Aboriginal leaders, academics, social agency staff and community activists, crowded into Thunderbird House for a two-hour ceremony to launch the Winnipeg component of the combined housing program and research project.
Winnipeg is one of five Canadian cities participating in the $110 million federally funded effort, called At Home/Chez Soi, organized by the Mental Health Commission in Canada.
Researchers connected to the project — including those at the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg — are testing a U.S.-based service model in which homeless people are provided with a place to live in advance of receiving other supports, such as addictions programs.
Unique to the Winnipeg component is that the approximately 600 participants, including 300 members of a control group, will be Aboriginal.
It’s estimated that 70 per cent of the homeless population in Winnipeg is Aboriginal.
"At the end of the day, it will be a good thing to see more than 1,000 Canadians in stable housing, surrounded by the supports they need," said Jino Distasio, director of the U of W’s Institute of Urban Studies.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada launched the program at a news conference today. The purpose of the research is to determine whether it’s better to provide street people with homes of their own, along with counselling and other social supports, or to try treating them first before finding them housing, which is what occurs today.
Some 600 homeless aboriginals are being recruited to participate in the project, and 300 of them will be given a place to live.
The new model of providing the homeless with places to live ahead of treatment has shown promise in places such as New York, said Digvir Jayas, vice-president of research at the University of Manitoba.
The U of M is helping carry out the research project in Winnipeg. Half the participants in the $150-million national study will be provided a furnished room or apartment, while the other half will act as a control group. Researchers will track the progress of those given homes for four years and compare it to that of people who remain on the streets.
Betty Edel, executive director of Mount Carmel Clinic, one of several participating agencies, said it only makes sense to provide homes up front to people who require help with sobriety and/or mental health issues.
"How can you say to someone who is homeless, ‘Well, we’ll give you a place (to live) if you sober up.’ Well, a lot of times that’s their coping mechanism because of all the fear and all the strife on the streets," Edel said Friday.
"What has been proven to work is that if someone has their own place and feels safe and secure... their basic need is met, so they can start thinking of other areas in their life," she said.
History
Updated on Monday, November 23, 2009 at 1:26 PM CST:
Adds details from today's press conference
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