As fall approaches, outreach workers worry about what will happen to Thunder Bay's homeless population

Aaron Ranta didn't expect he'd be sleeping outside this summer, but when he recently lost his apartment in Thunder Bay, Ont., he didn't have another option. 

He has been staying in a tent for about three weeks and is actively looking for a new place to live. He has met a lot of other people in similar situations and has spent much of his time helping them, handing out water bottles and keeping the area clean.

"Most people are freaking half a step away from being here themselves," he said. "I would just like people to treat [us] like we're normal people. We are normal people. Nobody wants to be here."

Outreach workers in the northwestern Ontario city are aware of more people sleeping outside than ever before: 140 at the end of July compared to a peak of 55 last year.

Last year, organizations like Elevate NWO helped 100 people get into housing. But this year, there's been little to no movement in getting people indoors because there just aren't enough units available.

"I'm really worried about what this winter might bring, given the current numbers that we're sitting at," said Cynthia Olsen, the city's director of strategic initiatives and engagement.

Outreach workers have focused their efforts on meeting people where they are at. This strategy was further solidified in April, when council voted in favour of the city taking a human rights-based approach to the encampments.

This is in contrast to efforts elsewhere, such as in the Region of Waterloo, to remove encampments from public spaces. That attempt was shot down by an Ontario Superior Court ruling, which said the municipality could not remove encampments if it could not provide enough shelter beds to meet demands.

"Any time you disperse somebody from a location, you run the risk of actually losing them to the system or losing them to follow up, and then have to start that process all over again," Olsen said.

"Hearing more about a human rights-based approach was just recognizing that people have the right to housing. It is a fundamental right under the Canadian Charter of Human Rights."

The District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) is the community service provider charged with managing social housing.

As of the end of June:

From January to the end of June, TBDSSAB moved 21 people off the high-needs homeless waitlist. In that same period, outreach workers have directly helped 39 people get into housing, though there may be an overlap of the same people represented in both figures, said Ken Ranta, TBDSSAB's director of integrated social services.

"It's certainly not as simple as saying, 'Let's build a large apartment building and give everybody a place to stay,' because many of them need a level of support to allow them to be successful in that home environment, and that's where I would suggest a whole-of-community approach," he said.