Homelessness: Social Isolation

Homeless people unfortunately live in isolation and often have to rely on resources like kitchen soups to find any form of support. According to the Health Street report (2007), 37 % of homeless people claim to have no exterior support at all in case of emotional crisis. Also, 34% said they never or rarely have someone to listen when they need to talk. The Health Street report also reported that 38% constantly feel lonely and remote from others.

When hearing stats like that, it helps to make people acknowledge that homelessness is not a choice.

3 types of Homelessness

1) Situational or transitional: This is when someone is forced into homelessness because of uncontrollable circumstances such as loosing a job, important material lost, lost of main breadwinner(father, husband, wife) etc.

2) Episodic or cyclical: This is when a person repeatedly falls in and out of homelessness. This often happens with drug addicts and with people experiencing mental health issues. The person might live episodes of severe depression cyclical way and fall back in homelessness when these occur. Same for someone with drug abuse issues. The person may be able to stop consuming for certain periods of time and get off the street, while being at high risk of homelessness all the time.

3) Chronic: This is when an individual is in the street for a long period of time and very few or no resources are at their disposition to modify their situation. Often, these people will suffer from mental health issues. They wont have the ability to modify their situation without the support of others. It is very rare that someone will be homeless all of his or her life on a voluntary basis.

Source: Réseau solidarité du Québec (2006).Pour une politique en Itinérance.

The Dangers of Homelessness

Being homeless is certainly not the most comfortable situation to live in. In fact, it can be very dangerous. According to the street health report (2007) 1 out of 3 homeless person is physically assaulted during the course of a year. This is one of the risks of living in the street, you never know who you might run into. Also, 1 out of 8 homeless are assaulted by a police officer in the course of a year. This is unfortunate. Police officers have as a mandate to protect the people on street, not to harm them, no matter who they are. Finally, 1 out of 5 homeless women are raped over the course of a year. In the street it is obvious that women are more exposed to that. They may put themselves in dangerous situations in exchange of money but the simple fact of being in the street exposes them much more than any other women.

More than $1.2 million approved to help the homeless in Sherbrooke - Human Resources Development Canada Press Release

Here is an interesting article published in 2002. Financial support was attributed to many Sherbrooke organizations who help work with homeless people. It sad however, that this was the case in 2002, since no singnificant amongt has been donated. This issue has to be spoken of  a lot more in order to get help from the govenment and other organizations.
 
SHERBROOKE, Québec, July 8 /CNW/ - Twelve Sherbrooke organizations are receiving over $1.2 million in federal funding to support projects designed to combat homelessness. Funding is being provided through the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI), under the Government of Canada's National Homelessness Initiative. The announcement was made today by the Honourable Denis Coderre, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Member of Parliament for Bourassa, on behalf of the Honourable Claudette Bradshaw, Minister of Labour and Federal Coordinator on Homelessness. "The Government of Canada is pleased to support projects that bring together community partners to help people in need," said Mr. Coderre. "With proper support, these people will have a chance to adopt a healthier and more stable lifestyle."
The funding for these projects will enable the Sherbrooke organizations to provide essential services to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The attached backgrounder provides a list of the approved projects. In addition to the Government of Canada funding, some of the projects are receiving financial support from the Government of Quebec or parapublic, municipal or community agencies. "In Quebec, projects announced to date under the SCPI, the Urban Aboriginal Strategy and the Youth component of the National Homelessness Initiative come to more than $59 million," added Minister Coderre. The National Homelessness Initiative (NHI) works in partnership with community organizations, the private sector and all levels of government to help Canada's homeless people by bringing together various partners to develop local solutions that work to address particular homelessness needs and issues.
Through this co-ordinated approach, the following programs are available to support communities across Canada: the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative; Urban Aboriginal Strategy; the youth component of the NHI; the Surplus Federal Real Property for Homelessness Initiative; and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Renovation and Conversion Programs, as well as the Shelter Enhancement Program.
In February 2001, the governments of Canada and Quebec signed a cooperation agreement on the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative. The agreement is in keeping with the jurisdictions, policies and priorities of both governments regarding matters of homelessness. A joint management committee oversees coordination of the agreement in Quebec. The committee is supported by an advisory committee that brings together representatives of both levels of government and of community organizations. Funding for the National Homelessness Initiative was provided for in the December 2001 federal Budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.
For more information on the Government of Canada's National Homelessness Initiative, visit our Web site at < a href="http://www.homelessness.gc.ca/">http://www.homelessness.gc.ca/
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