GOVERNMENT SETS UP WEBSITE TO GET INPUT ABOUT HOMELESSNESS

HOMELESSNESS WEBSITE TO INVOLVE PUBLIC IN SOLUTIONS
No quick fix, but ideas needed, group says

Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A click of the mouse is not going to solve Victoria's homelessness problem, but it's a step towards involving the community in looking for solutions.
A website, Ourwayhome.ca, sponsored by the Victoria Steering Committee on Homelessness, was launched yesterday as Victoria's opening salvo in Homelessness Action Week.
The website provides information about homelessness in the capital region and suggests ways to volunteer, assist, donate or refer people to services.
"Everyone has some concern about homelessness. There's usually a mixture of compassion and frustration because they can't see a solution," said Maureen Duncan, United Way CEO.
The website will provide a direction, she said. "We need to focus on political will and we need a strong community consensus that the current situation is intolerable."
Coun. Chris Coleman, steering committee co-chairman, said groups are starting to come together to take up the challenge, but there is no quick fix.
The Capital Regional District has a 10-year homelessness strategy, which aims to replace the scatter-gun approach with co-ordinated planning.
But, there still needs to be a paradigm shift in tackling the problem, with everyone working together, said Ken Kelly, Downtown Victoria Business Association general manager.
"It is evident from what we see on the street that the system, as it stands, is not working. We have seen the migration of homelessness from the downtown to all the municipalities," he said. "We have to act as one community, because homelessness is everyone's problem."
Street problems appear to be growing, rather than decreasing, said Kelly, who wants a chunk of the federal surplus allocated to housing.
Also, a federal housing strategy should be created to help communities across the country deal with homelessness, he said.
The streets have become today's asylums, Kelly said.
"Those of us in the downtown are confronted daily with souls plagued by mental health problems and those people need more assistance than they're getting right now."
The website, which cost more than $50,000, has been funded by different levels of government, the United Way and businesses.
It allows people to submit their own stories and tries to bust some of the myths about who makes up Victoria's homeless population.
Many people fail to realize that the elderly person waiting in the emergency ward for a supportive housing space or the young mother in a Gorge motel are part of the picture, Coleman said.
Other Homelessness Action Week events include:
? A social services fair today at the Downtown Community Activity Centre, 755 Pandora Ave., from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Organizations will set up displays and answer questions from the public.
? Tomorrow: An Evening of Hope: Building the Plan to End Homelessness, a dinner with speakers at the Ambrosia Catering Centre, 638 Fisgard St.
The evening features Adam Legge, director of Calgary Economic Development, on the business case for affordable housing and Tim Richter, Calgary Homeless Foundation project manager, on how to bring everyone to the table to create a homelessness solution. Tickets $25 at Downtown Victoria Business Association, 386-2239. Information, 595-0136.
Thursday: Our Place open house at 713 Johnson St., information 388-0343.
jlavoie@tc.canwest.com
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007