Moncton offered hopeful outlook on tackling homelessness

Moncton councillors were told the city is making progress in its efforts to address homelessness.

Homelessness, crime and illicit drug use have come to dominate council meetings as various approaches to address the issues have been tried, including boosting policing and financially backing an affordable housing group.

Tuesday's meeting includeda resident describing encampments and crime off Salisbury Road,the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Monctonoutline plans for a forum on homelessness anddowntown security, and an update on the city's affordable housing strategy.

Dawn Wheadon with the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee told councillors the city is on track to reach what's known as "functional zero chronic homelessness" by May 2023.

That meanshomelessness isn't eliminated, but instead is rare, brief, and non-recurring.

The 2023 goal relies onRising Tide Community Initiatives. Itreceived $15.4 million from thefederal,provincialandmunicipalgovernments to createup to 160 affordable housing units over three years.

Thenon-profit group was launched based on the city's affordable housing plan recommending funding a housing entity.

It was an update to that plan that saw various city staff, non-profit officials and out-of-province homelessness experts addressing councillors Tuesday.

Councillors heard that 129 people who were consideredchronically homeless have moved intohousing over the last year.Three per cent of those housed ended up back on what's called a by-name list.

The list is used to trackall known people experiencing homelessness along with information people have agreed to share, used to determine how to house them.

There were 131 people on the list as of July this year, down from a recent peak of 156 in January, councillors were told.

Several of those presenting praised Moncton's approach so far.

Tim Richter, president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, saidhe thinks the city is in a good position to end chronic homelessness.

But he responded to suggestions earlier in the meeting by councillorsthat there should be more RCMP officers and community safety officers empowered to do more than provincial law currently allows.

It feels like we're losing, but you're giving us some hope we are winning.- Moncton Coun. Dave Steeves

"In our experience across the country, around North America and frankly, around the world, enforcement alone does not work,"Richter said.

"You end up putting yourself into basically a very expensive and ineffective, and frankly cruel, cycle where you're simply just pushing the problem down the road."

Jaime Rogers,manager of homeless and housing development with the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society, also praised Moncton.Medicine Hat is considered a success story after claiming to have ended chronichomelessness in 2015 andby then reachingfunctional zero chronic homelessness.

"It feels like we're losing, but you're giving us some hope we are winning and so that's really encouraging to me, hopefullyto other councillorsas well," Coun. Dave Steevessaidnear the end of a two hour discussion on affordable housing.

He asked about howto begin changing the narrative around tackling homelessness.

"Our email inbox is filled with pictures and videos and complaints, but until today I hadn't heard those wins you shared," Steeves said of some of the data raised in the presentations.

Theoptimistic outlook for Moncton largely relied on Rising Tide using the by-name list to house people.

Wheadontold councillors she asked Rising Tide if it would do so, but wasn't given a clear answer.

No one from Rising Tide was at the meeting and its managing director did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, theGreater Moncton Chamber of Commerce's community task force on homelessness and downtown security has scheduled a Sept. 23 foruminvolving various sectors and government officials.

A second meeting is expected in October where recommendations and anaction plan are expected to be presented.