100 Moncton homeless chosen for national study

One hundred homeless people in Moncton will be given a place to live and all the resources they need to deal with their mental health issues, thanks to a national research program.

The Mental Health Commission of Canada has chosen Moncton to be one of five communities to participate in the study, said Joanne Murray, who sits on the city's homelessness committee.

"They'll be provided with an apartment in existing housing in the city," she said.

Participants will have to pay a portion of their rent and be visited at least once a week by program staff, according to the commission's website.

The goal of the study, which ends in 2013, is to gather evidence about what services can best help people who are living with a mental illness and are also homeless, the website states.

The study will compare the so-called housing-first model of intervention to the usual services offered in the five test cities, which also include Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

Homelessness findings

Meanwhile, Moncton's committee on homelessness is calling for more regulation of rooming houses, which are the first step out of homelessness for many people.

The committee, which released its second annual report card on Thursday, found that some people are "living in places where people shouldn't be living," said Murray.

They are paying rent to live in tiny rooms, under stairs, or in otherwise substandard conditions, she said.

"There's no legislation, there's a threat of being evicted. For them, the next step is on the street. So they're willing to pay the money," said Murray, who is also the executive director of the John Howard Society of Greater Moncton.

The committee also found that no new affordable housing units were created in the city in 2008 and the number of people in shelters is increasing.

Murray points out that there is a new mobile mental health crisis team. It's funded by Ottawa and is a partnership between the health authorities and Codiac RCMP.