Housing for homeless in demand
Posted Jan 31, 2010 9:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
According to social workers in the field of homelessness, the most pressing demand in the field at the moment is finding shelter for homeless families.
President of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, Tim Richter, says 220 families have been housed in the last two years. That’s when the city launched its 10 year plan to end homelessness.
But Richter tells the Calgary Herald the number of families seeking help continues to swell.
Although the agency hasn’t met its two year targets for families, Richter adds, there have been some positives. 891 new affordable housing units were added last year and more are on the books.
Since January of 2007, more than 1,200 people have been set up with housing by the foundation.
But it’s not only families that are adding to demand. The Drop-In Centre’s Dermot Baldwin says the number of people using the emergency shelter has been on the increase, thanks to the economy.
