NDP vows to battle chronic homeless problem in two terms By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022

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A provincial government helmed by New Democrats would do in eight years what community organizations and leaders have been working towards for decades — bring chronic homelessness to an end, leader Wab Kinew pledged on Tuesday.

He said his party is committed to ensuring no person in Manitoba goes unsheltered for longer than six weeks.

Within two terms of forming government, the NDP would have a program in place to rapidly house people who are homeless.

“When we see bus shelters with couches and mattresses in them, I think we all agree we can do better,” Kinew said during an announcement at McKittrick Park on Tuesday.

’When we see bus shelters with couches and mattresses in them, I think we all agree we can do better.’– Wab Kinew

The NDP leader offered up his vision for a downtown Winnipeg where people who go to professional sports games and concerts, and take public transit see fewer people living on the street, as the party sets its sights on the next election, due to be held by Oct. 3, 2023.

“We can provide more dignity, we can provide more safety, and we can provide answers to the challenges that we’re facing with people living without permanent shelters in our communities,” Kinew said.

He pointed to Houston, Texas. In 2012, a tri-county coalition encompassing the greater Houston area adopted a homelessness strategy called ‘The Way Home.”

The program — which emphasizes co-ordination between service providers, social and economic supports, and permanent, affordable housing — is estimated to have housed over 25,000 people since 2012 and reduced homelessness by 63 per cent.

“Let’s get people into housing, but let’s also tie people into supports so that housing can be sustainable and be there for them for the years to come,” Kinew said. “We think that over two terms in government, we can make significant progress towards ending chronic homelessness, in both Winnipeg and across the rest of Manitoba.”

Implementing a comparable strategy in Manitoba would cost about $20 million to start, including outreach and housing expenses, Kinew said. Units for thousands of people could be needed, including private-sector apartments, he said.

The spending would be on top of what the province pays for mental health and addictions support, Rent Assist, and other services supporting transitional and permanent housing.

Collaboration and a common goal for organizations working with the unsheltered population in the greater Houston area has made strategy successful, said Catherine Villarreal, communications director for the Coalition for the Homeless.

“In the before time, we had more than 100 non-profits that were doing their own thing on homelessness,” Villarreal said by phone from Texas. “We just weren’t getting anywhere with that. No one was talking to each other, some people were getting into permanent housing, but not a ton of people.”

’We think that over two terms in government, we can make significant progress towards ending chronic homelessness, in both Winnipeg and across the rest of Manitoba.’– Wab Kinew

With the development of the strategy, and funding from the United States government, non-profit service providers, the City of Houston, and the local county co-ordinated efforts and became efficient at housing thousands of people over the past decade, Villarreal said.

A historically affordable rental market and close collaboration with landlords contributed to success of the program, which is centred on the principle of providing people with shelter and then giving them the support to stay there.

“We’re taking advantage of the existing rental market,” Villareal said. “Landlords are a really crucial part of this, and for any other community that wants to review what Houston’s done, building those relationships with landlords is so crucial to house people exiting homelessness.”

Under the NDP’s watch, Kinew said his government would lead the implementation of the strategy and work with service organizations that bring forward grassroots solutions.

“It would not be about disrupting the existing initiatives that are out there, but rather just convening them, and pulling them together and deploying them with consistency, so we can reach everyone out there who needs support,” Kinew said.

End Homelessness Winnipeg said the NDP’s desire to house people is commendable and cannot be achieved without commitment from the provincial government. Initiatives currently undertaken by the organization, which received its mandate from the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council’s 10-year plan to end homelessness, would also benefit from additional financial support from the province.

“The massive turnaround in tackling homelessness in Houston has been achieved within a decade, meaning with the commitment of the government, we can achieve a lot within two terms,” said the organization.

End Homelessness housed 1,100 people through the federally sponsored Reaching Home program in the past fiscal year, though more investment is needed for supports for tenants, the group said.

The Progressive Conservative government is developing its own homelessness strategy and has promised to release it this calendar year.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Danielle Da Silva
Reporter

Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter.

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