Housing minister outlines strategy for reducing homelessness by 40 per cent by 2029
CBC
The New Brunswick government has a strategy for reducing chronic homelessness in the province by 40 per cent over the next three years, Housing Minister David Hickey said Thursday.
Part of the strategy includes knew supportive housing projects in Bathurst and Moncton, Hickey said.
New Brunswick has seen a sharp increase in homelessness over the past six years, he said in announcing the strategy, called "A Path Home," in Saint John.
“As a result … already stressed and overburdened nonprofit organizations, underfunded government agencies were met with a crisis they could not keep up with."
Hickey is also the chair of a “task force on homelessness” officially announced in September, when the province originally pledged its 40 per cent reduction goal.
Several government and community-based representatives attended the announcement, including Social Development Minister Cindy Miles, Health Minister John Dornan, Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon, and representatives of the Human Development Council and Fresh Start Services.
Supportive housing projects Hickey spoke of will be supported by a $7.4-million provincial fund — announced in October and created in partnership with community organizations.
These projects will be similar to sites already operating in Saint John — the Neighbourly Homes and Somerset ACRES — which are aimed at helping the formerly homeless achieve independent living.
“They don't all look like that, but they are all intended as housing for people either coming directly out of homelessness or out of some form of system and into a type of housing that is meant to be temporary,” Hickey told reporters.
“That is meant to set them up in a foundation for them to move on to a next stage of housing.”
A news release from the province says that the government is “still working with communities” to finalize details.
Hickey said that he would not provide more information until consultations with communities were completed. The idea is to avoid a controversy like the one over a supportive housing project in Fredericton, which saw significant community pushback.
“We're making sure that that process is fulsome and reflects not only the lessons we've learned from Forest Hill but also but also the need to make sure that community is involved in the consultation,” he said.
The New Brunswick Housing Corporation, which Hickey is responsible for, said in a statement that the new projects will create at least 58 units — 30 in Bathurst and 28 in Moncton.
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