More affordable housing needed to tackle homeslessness: report

According to a new district-wide homelessness report, the Thunder Bay district needs an estimated 840 new supportive housing units to come online over the next five years.

And that still might not be enough.

Thunder Bay District Social Service Administration CEO Ken Ranta said the report will be foundational to the DSSAB’s updated 10-year housing and homelessness plan.

He said the report highlights the need for more resources to create rent-geared-to-income, supportive, and transitional housing.

“What’s contributing to homelessness in a profound way is affordability. I mean, everybody right now who is renting, who is vulnerable in the marketplace knows exactly what I’m talking about, and it’s people are living hand-to-mouth. People are having a hard time making bills, making ends meet, working multiple jobs,” DSSAB chair Brian Hamilton said.

“When you have a really competitive housing market, the people that are the most vulnerable and marginalized are going to be the ones that are going to have the most difficult time accessing it. So, things are evolving. I think it’s sadly becoming more relatable as poverty increases and food insecurity increases. We’re going to be seeing more issues on the street.”

In addition to the 840 units needed over the next five years, the report says the city need an estimated 210 new units in 2026.

The DSSAB commissioned OrgCode, a consultancy firm specializing in strategy and analysis for homelessness and housing support services, to complete the report.

Org Code president, Iain De Jong, said the data on estimated new units are conservative numbers. The DSSAB may need more units than what the report suggests due to the lack of concrete data on the city’s homeless population.

“It’s hard to count individuals who are homeless. We always count. We understand who’s at a specific place at a specific time, with the understanding that we know we’re missing people. Homelessness is not only visible. We have individuals who are hidden homeless, and they may be tenuously housed. They may be staying a night here, a night there with friends and relatives, but they don’t have a permanent place,” Ranta said.

The city’s last point-in-time count identified 652 homeless people on one day in October, a significant increase over the previous year’s count.

The new housing the DSSAB has funded over the past five years is not equal the estimated need over the next five years, but they have seen growth in their housing stock, said Ranta.

“We’re going to continue to grow and add to the unit count. Whether we get to their projections, I think, really depends on a lot of community partnerships and support from other organizations, other sectors like healthcare, mental health, in addition to housing, to see if we can reach those numbers,” he said.

DSSAB administration will collaborate with OrgCode to produce a final report, which will be released publicly in the new year.

“Having this outside view from an expert organization provides us with some insights and opportunities to include in our plan. That’s gonna be a big piece for what we’re looking to do with it,” Ranta said.

He also said the report will be shared with community partners who work in homelessness prevention, so that every organization can continue to pull in the same direction.“I think ultimately, with homelessness, that the needs are becoming more and more complex. Service delivery, healthcare, and housing all have to kind of come together in a united way, and it really spoke to the fact that we have to really break down silos, work together, and continue to strengthen the network and the community partners,” Hamilton said. – tbnewswatch.com

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Not sure why affordable housing is only being discussed when it comes to ‘the unhoused’.   Nobody seems to care about the working poor. The people who are working but struggle to pay for rent and groceries.

All our high salaried residents of City Hall talk ‘unhoused’ this and “unhoused’ that and how sad it is that people who do not contribute to this community whatsoever need free hosing and free food and free clothing and free everything while there are people who have jobs, pay for housing, pay for food (maybe get some groceries from food banks sometimes when money is tight, pay for clothing (maybe get some donated clothing sometimes when money is tight) and pay for basically everything themselves.  At the end of the month, they are left with nothing, if even that.  Never mention at City Hall.  Its all about the “unhoused”.

Rent geared to income is an issue that is something that goes waaaay beyond the “unhoused’.

Maybe, just maybe our high salaried residents need to look after the working poor first.  The people that are trying to make a go of it. The people that are trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables by WORKING!

Right now, I do not see a reason why anyone should work at a job that forces them to just barely scraping by. Never really getting ahead. Why when the bulk of the attention is being placed on the ‘unhoused’.  The people who contribute little to nothing to this city.  People who refuse to work.

Only fools are still working for low wages.  Its a suckers game.  The smart people are just sitting back and getting a free ride fully paid by the taxpayer.  You know, the people who WORK and pay taxes.  The people that out high salaried residents of City Hall appear to be taking for granted.

We need to be encouraging people to work.  Help them. Make them an example.  Encouraging people to not work seems counter productive.

What does it cost to rent an apartmentingin Thunder Bay?

A two bedroom apartment in Thunder Bay averages $1920 a month.   Getting one for free?  Throw in food, clothing and everything?  Why would anyone work?