Multiple methods including rapid rehousing, community treatment to be utlized
The City of Kelowna's Journey Home plan to end homelessness will require plenty of fundraising over the next five years, to the tune of 47 million dollars.
And while that's a hefty price tag, the report says it's something the city can't afford not to do.
Dr. Alina Turner consulted with the task force as she authored the report, and says that not addressing homelessness is actually more expensive in the long run.
She says if the people they plan to get off the streets stayed on them, it would add costs to policing, bylaw, and healthcare budgets.
"We know that over the course of the five years, when we add up how many people we're proposing to serve – that totals about 2100 people over five years. And that same 2100 people, if they were using, on an ongoing basis, those public systems, that would add up to about $100 million."
She says the other factor is that when people are taken off the streets, they're then able to contribute to the local economy, instead of just using up resources.
The plan officially aims to put an end to chronic and episodic homelessness over the next five years.
But a big part of that is intervening before people even get to that stage.
Turner talked about how rapid rehousing will be prioritized.
"Rapid rehousing is focusing on people who have just experienced homelessness for the first time, or newly homeless, and it's about getting them out of the shelter or out of sleeping rough really quickly, and stabilized," she said.
"People don't tend to stay there forever, they go through the rapid rehousing program relatively quickly. So it's a very effective way of housing families, for instance."
She says one of the important things is that there's no time limit on that rehousing – people can stay as long as they need to.
For those who don't need that ongoing treatment, rehousing them is even less complicated.
Turner says the best solution is having them live alongside anyone else in the community.
"Assertive community treatment and intensive case management house people in the community. You won't necessarily know that your neighbour in the same rental building has a history of homelessness, because they're just another tenant," she said.
"The difference is is that they access to mental health and addiction supports that come to them, and that they are getting some subsidies because their social assistance, for instance, isn't enough to meet the cost of rent."
Of the $47 million that's costed out in the plan, $44 million is to cover new buildings and social and financial supports.
The bulk of that cost is expected to be raised through government grants and other fundraising.
