Housing the homeless safely, for all

It’s clear that finding homes for the homeless is not as simple as saying, “Here’s a homeless person, here’s a vacant apartment, match the two of them up and voila! One less person who is homeless.”

Why?

Because the reasons a person finds themselves on the streets can be the result of long-lasting trauma or mental health issues, and even the effects of homelessness on individuals can build its own issues.

That means the process of getting someone off the streets can be extremely involved — simply finding a home is not a magic solution all on its own.

It may well be that all sorts of supports are available for new residents, including residents who were formerly homeless, who are being moved into available spaces. It may also be true that not everyone is willing to take up the supports that are offered — or may in fact actively refuse that help — and be equally true that others fall back into the throes of addiction.

That’s tragic enough, because nothing is as frustrating as trying to help people who refuse that help.

But helping people find homes seems to be creating its own problems for others.

Through the Your Way Home program, high-needs homeless people, often with addictions or mental health issues, are being moved into vacant spaces in 55-plus buildings.

The result is security issues for existing residents, some of whom say they no longer feel safe in the halls of their buildings, or even in their own units. That there is evidence of drug use, intoxication, gang violence and other crime, and residents say they now live in fear.

Agnes Breton is 73 and lives in the Canadian Polish Manor in north Winnipeg: “I’ve never been frightened in my life and now I am,” Breton told the Free Press.

“I’ve been here 11 years and this is the first year my daughter is at me to move out,” she said. “It’s really awful.”

Then, there’s the case of the public housing block at 145 Powers St. Safety problems in that building have gotten so bad that home-care workers will no longer go into the building to provide care to residents: instead, the residents needing care have to cross the street to another building.

A Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spokesperson told the Free Press in a statement that, “Providing safe, compassionate quality is a priority. That not only includes the safety of the clients, but of staff as well.”

Manitoba Housing stopped moving formerly homeless tenants into the building in January when safety issues arose, but at this point the safety concerns continue.

“We wanted to stabilize and ensure that the folks that were living there had the supports and services that they need,” Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said. “It has improved… and we’re going to continue to work on ensuring that everyone in that building feels safe and secure.”

Without a doubt, complex needs require complex solutions, and that complexity does not lend itself to simple or quick solutions.

It takes time to unwind the damage that some people live with, and the process is not easy or without hiccups along the way.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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And without a doubt, Winnipeg has a huge homelessness problem that needs emergency action.

But what about the safety of those in the buildings who are trying to live their lives in peaceful and quiet enjoyment? The complex needs of some tenants cannot be allowed to create complex, unending problems for a host of others.

It’s not a question of whether there are better solutions or not.

Quite frankly, it’s that the current solution is no solution at all.

Clarification: This editorial suggested that unhoused people had been placed in the Canadian Polish Manor under the Your Way Home program. While formerly homeless individuals have been placed by the program in other apartment buildings, the Canadian Polish Manor was not one of them.