'This is an emergency': Saskatoon community association says province moving too slow on homelessness
The leader of the Pleasant Hill Community Association has penned a letter to the province urging them to act quickly to make good on their promise to address homelessness.
“We just see the exponential growth of the homeless issue in our community and obviously we consider this to be a crisis,” said Adam Pollock, president of the Pleasant Hill Community Association.
He says the recent announcement that the Affinity Credit Union would be closing due to safety concerns was the final straw.
“This is essentially the straw that is breaking the back of this community,” Pollock told CTV News. “We’ve seen a number of services that our community members use leaving the community citing safety issues and concerns.”
In a letter to the provincial government, Pollock and the community association are calling for income support workers in the community five days a week, 60 new shelter beds by spring, 80 permanent supportive housing units for complex needs, and making changes to the social income support program.
In October the province announced $40.2 million dollars over the next two years to address homelessness, including shelters, services and programs, supportive housing units and community safety and outreach.
In an email to CTV News, the province said “homelessness is a complex issue with root causes that include addictions and mental health issues that can’t be solved by income assistance alone.”
It adds that a new mobile workforce initiative program will put up to 10 ministry employees in community-based organizations to support clients with complex challenges where they are.
The province has also tasked the City of Saskatoon to help solve the issue.
“The Government of Saskatchewan has asked the City of Saskatoon to locate two sites for new emergency shelter spaces with room for approximately 30 beds each,” a spokesperson for the city told CTV News in an email.
“The city continues to work with the Government of Saskatchewan to identify possible sites. Once the sites have been identified, public information sessions will be held to provide details and answer questions.”
Pollock says it won’t be enough.
“There is a big gap from what the government is promising,” he said. “The amount of beds that they are offering and have promised fall short of what our frontline workers are saying we need in our community.”
The Pleasant Hill Community Association is calling for urgent action as it says the crisis is worsening.
“This is an emergency for our community and so we want to see steps taken that reflect an emergency.”
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