{"id":169,"date":"2016-11-22T14:33:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-22T14:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/?p=169"},"modified":"2016-11-22T21:25:37","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T21:25:37","slug":"city-leaders-discuss-ending-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/2016\/11\/22\/city-leaders-discuss-ending-homelessness\/","title":{"rendered":"City leaders meet to discuss ending homelessness in Ottawa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The way to fix homelessness is to permanently subsidize housing for the poor, a community forum on ending homelessness heard today.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Marybeth Shinn from Vanderbilt University used a keynote speech at the 13th annual Community Forum on Ending Homelessness to make a plea for affordable housing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHomelessness for families in the United States is really a housing affordability problem,\u201d Shinn told hundreds of workers from the public and private sector. \u201cYou fix the housing affordability problem, you fix homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[box]<\/p>\n<div class=\"infogram-embed\" data-id=\"40de1dcb-e8f4-46a5-bae9-4cef1d7a0b87\" data-type=\"interactive\" data-title=\"Number of Persons Using Overnight Emergency Shelters\"><\/div>\n<p><script>!function(e,t,n,s){var i=\"InfogramEmbeds\",o=e.getElementsByTagName(t),d=o[0],a=\/^http:\/.test(e.location)?\"http:\":\"https:\";if(\/^\\\/{2}\/.test(s)&&(s=a+s),window[i]&&window[i].initialized)window[i].process&&window[i].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var r=e.createElement(t);r.async=1,r.id=n,r.src=s,d.parentNode.insertBefore(r,d)}}(document,\"script\",\"infogram-async\",\"\/\/e.infogr.am\/js\/dist\/embed-loader-min.js\");<\/script><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 8px 0; font-family: Arial!important; font-size: 13px!important; line-height: 15px!important; text-align: center; border-top: 1px solid #dadada; margin: 0 30px;\"><a style=\"color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/infogr.am\/40de1dcb-e8f4-46a5-bae9-4cef1d7a0b87\" target=\"_blank\">Number of Persons Using Overnight Emergency Shelters<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;\" href=\"http:\/\/charts.infogr.am\/line-chart?utm_source=embed_bottom&amp;utm_medium=seo&amp;utm_campaign=line_chart\" target=\"_blank\">Create line charts<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Data retrieved from Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa&#8217;s Annual Progress Reports[\/box]<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cintervention\u201d of permanent subsidies was one of many different options explored as part of the research conducted by the Family Options Study in the United States. The federally-funded project compared the effectiveness of different interventions for homelessness. But subsidies, Shinn admitted, are not a new idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the lessons are not so surprising; so you give people housing subsidies and that fixes homelessness,\u201d Shinn said dryly to chuckles from the audience.<\/p>\n<p>Shinn was quick to point out that there were \u201cbenefits that radiated beyond housing stability\u201d that emerged from the permanent subsidy experiment. According to Shinn, the study indicated a reduction in substance abuse, partner violence and psychological stresses that contribute to homelessness.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_294\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-294\" style=\"width: 373px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-294\" src=\"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1.jpg\" alt=\"Professor Marybeth (Beth) detailed the findings of the Family Options Study in her keynote speech on Tuesday. Photo by: Matthew Olson\" width=\"373\" height=\"248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Marybeth-Shinn-gives-keynote-detailing-findings-of-Family-Options-Study-1-140x94.jpg 140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-294\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Professor Marybeth (Beth) Shinn detailed the findings of the Family Options Study in her keynote speech on Tuesday. Photo by: Matthew Olson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe study suggests a clear winner among interventions for families experiencing homelessness in the United States,\u201d Shinn said. However, the professor admitted that she wasn\u2019t sure how these results might apply to services in Canada, saying, \u201cyou\u2019ll have to tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Mayor Mark Taylor, who acts as the City of Ottawa\u2019s Special Liaison on Housing and Homelessness, said he believes there are already good programs in place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, the scenario that exists is we are supporting people across a whole variety of different needs, so someone might receive a subsidy for transit \u2013 we\u2019re bringing in a low-income transit pass in Ottawa \u2013 they might receive a subsidy to send their kids to school,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThey might collect a couple of meals a month from the Food bank \u2013 so in a sense, they\u2019re receiving a subsidy on food.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_286\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-286\" style=\"width: 368px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-286\" src=\"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Matt-mayor-2-1024x681.jpeg\" alt=\"matt-mayor-2\" width=\"368\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Matt-mayor-2.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Matt-mayor-2-150x100.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Matt-mayor-2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Matt-mayor-2-768x511.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Matt-mayor-2-140x94.jpeg 140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-286\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deputy Mayor Mark Taylor opened\u00a0National Housing Day on behalf of Mayor Jim Watson at the forum. Photo by: Matthew Olson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBeth Shinn\u2019s principle of \u2018housing subsidies work\u2019 comes as no surprise. In fact, we\u2019re looking at taking it a step further and saying \u2018life subsidies\u2019 can sometimes be of a real benefit, especially to a family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is this kind of talk that makes the annual forum so important, said Executive Director Mark Bulthuis from the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI often describe the day as\u2026 a dialogue between researchers and practitioners, the folks who are on the front lines doing this work day in and day out and wanting to make sure they have access to the latest research,\u201d Bulthuis said, adding that researchers also needed to be aware of \u201clocal realities\u201d in the city.<\/p>\n<p>But for Bulthuis, there is always more work to be done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re moving in the right direction,\u201d Bulthuis said. \u201cI think there\u2019s lots of reasons to be optimistic right now; some of that just has to translate to new investments to help us work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=thedriftcu\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The way to fix homelessness is to permanently subsidize housing for the poor, a community forum on ending homelessness heard today. Professor Marybeth Shinn from Vanderbilt University used a keynote speech at the 13th annual Community Forum on Ending Homelessness to make a plea for affordable housing. \u201cHomelessness for families in the United States is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,61],"tags":[65,64,66,62,63],"class_list":["post-169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-second-edition","tag-ending-homelessness","tag-forum","tag-homelessness","tag-housing","tag-national-housing-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions\/299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}