Most people have some inkling of what it means to be homeless, wouldn't you think? But we doubt the imagined comes close to the actual. Imagine having nowhere to go that is yours or under your control. Where will your next meal come from? Even if it's from a community meal service, where do you go after you've finished?
Estimates are that on any given night, there are 30,000 Canadians who are homeless. An Ipsos Reid poll suggests that as many as 1.3 million Canadians have experienced homelessness or extremely insecure housing at some point during the past five years. In March 2012, Vancouver was estimated to have 1,602 homeless people, of whom 306 had no shelter at all. These figures are based on an actual point in time count; it is estimated that there are three hidden homeless for every 'counted' homeless.
Who is homeless in Canada? There may be little surprise in finding out that almost half of the homeless are adult males aged 25 to 55 (47.5 per cent), but youth make up about 20 per cent of the total.
Aboriginal people, First Nations, Métis and Inuit, are overrepresented amongst homeless populations in most communities in Canada. And for women and families, their violence and poverty are their main causes of homelessness.
Homelessness can be defined as a situation whereby an individual or family is without stable, permanent, appropriate housing. This could mean they are unsheltered, living on the street or in places not intended for human habitation. There are those who are emergency sheltered, staying in overnight emergency shelters designed for people who are homeless. People may also be 'provisionally accommodated.' That is, homeless but making do with temporary accommodations like 'couch surfers' or those living in institutional contexts (hospital, prison) without permanent housing arrangements.
The path into homelessness is neither uniform nor linear: this happened, then that, on top of which then I lost my home. In fact, homelessness reflect a complex interplay between many factors such as poverty, a lack of affordable housing in the community, people being discharged from corrections or mental health facilities. Individual circumstances can also play a role: family conflict and violence, mental health and addictions.
A report authored by the Canadian Homelessness Research Network called "The State of Homelessness in Canada 2013," describes the problem of homelessness and points to ways of improving the situation. Among their recommendations are directions to communities to develop awareness of the problem - there are homeless in every community - and to develop and implement clear plans to end homelessness. Affordable housing is usually in very short supply so anything governments can do to increase the supply will help the homeless.
Making progress requires a deliberate focus on the problem, taking political leadership, and investing in affordable housing, and taking action. Many successes have come from approaches that use a 'Housing First' strategy. That is, recognizing that housing stability is necessary for the success of other interventions such as education and training, life skills development, managing mental health challenges, and the treatment of substance abuse. It's a great place to start.
Editor's note: Dr. Paul Martiquet is the medical health officer for rural Vancouver Coastal Health including Powell River, the Sunshine Coast, Sea-to-Sky, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.
