Originally Posted by redforever
These were great articles written by Barb Higgins. I have her blog bookmarked, love reading her take on things. I don't think anyone in Calgary is better than Barb Higgins for bringing humanity into any situation. But I think there is a big difference here with the working poor compared to many who just sit on the streets begging for money.
There is a contingent of street people who will never be employable, around 40%, certainly not 90% as some are claiming.
Around early November, our first cold snap, when the amount of beds available is never sufficient for the people who need them, I heard a great interview. It was with the mayors of 3 American cities, New York was one, I forget the other 2 cities. Anyhow, they were asked how they have addressed their homeless situation. New York in particular has made big strides in addressing that issue.
They all said the key was in empowering the people on the streets, not just building more shelters, opening more food banks, forming more agencies to deal with people on the streets. They said if you provide all those services, they will always come and you will need to build more and you will be perpetuating a cycle and viscious circle that is ever spiralling upwards. They were not advocating closing all the shelters and stopping various services, they were merely saying that alternatives have to be present.
When asked how to empower them, they said one of the keys is building affordable housing for them because when they are in something of their own, you usually empower them with pride, something most street people are lacking. And without a house over their head, they are nobodies, they lack identities, they can not be reached by telephone, they don't even have sufficient documentation such as drivers licenses, health cards, whatever. If we did not see them on the streets, it is like they do not even exist.
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