Person-focused homelessness strategy tabled in N.W.T.

A new homelessness strategy unveiled Wednesday by the N.W.T. government aims to shift the territory away from focusing on programs and toward focusing on people.

The strategy, named "A Way Home," says person-centred service recognizes that everyperson is an expert in what they need, and puts individuals at the heart of decision-making.

"This change will require a cultural shift in service provision across the [Government of the Northwest Territories]," the strategy said. "It requires commitment to ongoing effort that may in some cases, only produce small, incremental positive change, especially at first."

The strategy was tabled at the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday afternoon.

Duringa media conference, Premier Caroline Cochranesaid she hopedit wouldn't sit on a shelf as the 19th Legislative Assembly draws to a close. She said she's working to finish one of its goals establishing a dedicated homelessness unit so that it'll have a better chanceof being carried on by a new government.

The document outlines solutions for four different kinds of homelessness, covering people who are unsheltered, emergency sheltered, provisionally accommodated, and at risk of homelessness.

One of those solutions, which the strategy describes as "ambitious and worthy," is to bring the number of people and families experiencing homelessness down to a point where they can be managed by permanent housing and services that are available in each community.

The strategy refers to this number as being a "functional zero" goal and it wants to establish such a goalin each community. This will look different across communities, the report said.

Cochranetold reportersshe'd like to see a homeless shelter in each region, so that some people don't have to travel all the way to Yellowknife, Inuvik or Hay River for support.

The Premier also spoke about her own experiences with homelessness describing herself as a "street kid" who couch-surfedat the age of 13, and later ran an emergency shelter for women in Yellowknife.

"We must honour individuals' agency, dignity and strength and to connect with them with the culturally safe support that they desire," she said.

The strategyalso recognizes ending homelessness entirely is not a realistic goal.

"There will always be a need for emergency shelter options," it said."The goal is that homelessness is prevented whenever possible, and when homelessness does occur it is rare, brief, and non-recurring."