Windsor-Essex sees significant rise in people homeless for at least 6 months

There's been a27 per centincrease in the number of people homeless on any given night in the city of Windsorcompared to 2018, according to a new report to be reviewed by the Community Services and Parks StandingCommittee on Wednesday.

The report, based off a Point in Time Count completed over a 24-hour period in March, details a significant rise in chronic homelessness and continued overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the city's homeless population.

City staff are recommending that council lobby higher levels of government to acknowledge homelessness as a crisis and spend more money on housing and homelessness programs in addition to mental health and addiction services.

"It's just sad. A sad, sad stat to look at," said Marina Clemens, chair of Windsor's housing and homelessness advisory committee.

Clemens said the report further highlights the need for more affordable housing in Windsor-Essex, a region with a growing waitlist that had5,500 names on it to start 2021.

The wait list has grown by 62 per cent since 2016, when the City of Windsor conducted its first Point in Time Count study to get a reflection of who is homeless on a typical night in the city.

Of the 251 people counted during this year's survey, completed by city workers and volunteers, 94 people were sheltered locally at an emergency shelter or isolation centre.

One hundred and fifty-seven people completed a survey used to compilethe report.

Windsor and Essex County also uses a By-Names Prioritized List in addition to the Point in Time Count. The list is a real-time collection of everyone known to be experiencing homelessness. It tracks trends of those entering and existing homelessness.

There were 476 people on the list as of March 31.

Homelessness by the numbers

According to those surveyed during the Point in Time Count:

• Sixty-three per cent of adults identified a mental health condition.
• Three of four adults have been homeless for six months of more in the last 12 months, up from oneof two in 2018.
  • the average length of timeexperiencing homelessness is almost 300 days.
• Fifty per cent of women said they experienced abuse.
• Six of the 14 families identified as Black,African.
• One in 10 adultssaid COVID-19 caused their homelessness.

Indigenous people significantly over represented

The report highlights a significant overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the homeless population, a consistent trend throughout the three counts completed by the city.

Of those surveyed during the count,22 per cent identify as Ingeniousaccording to the report. While lower than the 29 per cent in 2016, it's the same percentage as the count in 2018.

Indigenous people make up 1.4 per cent of the Windsor-Essex population, according to the report which cites Census datafrom 2016.

Eric Hill isthe executive director of Can-Am Urban Native Homes, a non-profit responsible for 98 affordable properties for Indigenous people in Windsor, which has dozens of individuals and families on what could be a two-year wait list.

They also operatea transitional home for families in emergency situations.

Hill said he sees housing supply as a main driver while acknowledging there could be distrust in accessing government services that aren't Indigenous led.

"I won't say it definitively, but you're likely to have a mistrust of mainstream services," said Hill.

"That's echoes of things like the Sixties Scoop... and all these things of systemic racism."

Hill highlighted the Indigenous Housing Advocate with the Can-Am Indian Friendship Centre as an example of supports that work.

The report calls for intentional, focused work that addresses Indigenous homelessness.

Clemens said that the housing and homelessness advisory committee continues to discuss why there is over representation in the counts and look for solutions.

"They are really working quite diligently with the leaders within our community," she said of the committee.

The Windsor-Essex Housing and Homelessness Master Plan lists 100 new affordable housing units for Indigenous Peoples as a goal to hit by 2028.