'No one should be down here': HRM council updates homeless strategy
CTV
The growing homeless problem was back on the agenda at Halifax Regional Council Tuesday, as the city works to fine-tune its response.
The growing homeless problem was back on the agenda at Halifax Regional Council Tuesday, as the city works to fine-tune its response.
A Strategy Update was presented to councillors for consideration as the municipality continues to look for ways to assist those with nowhere to go.
"The number of people experiencing homelessness continues to grow at a dramatically increasing rate," reads the report.
"The By Name List, which records people who are homeless and looking for stable housing in HRM, has been over 1,000 people since August 2023. As of October 10, 2023, it is 1,014 people."
None of this is news to Jacob Hicks, who's lived at the Sackville ballfield encampment for about a month.
"I have very serious anxiety, depression, and I recently found out I have borderline personality disorder. And it's made it very hard. I haven't been able to get much help," Hicks told CTV News Tuesday, adding community support has been unbelievable and appreciated
"Every day, I would say five-to-10 people bring food, clothes, tents, tarps, tote-boxes, snacks. Anything that we need, and we have a group on Facebook, 'the Ballfield Gated Community,' and anybody here could ask for something in there," he said.
