The hiding places for homeless are full in Ottawa. Lack of places, chairs like beds, a person who died of cold: needs in the federal capital glaring – although the city has increased its offer to new arrivals, which have been increasing part of the wandering parts of Ottawa for some time.
“People have few places,” said Ottawa Mission director Peter Tilley. From the pandemic, the organization is full of the organization every evening.
Almost 250 beds are on the upper floors of this Basse-Ville building. During cold nights, however, about thirty people sleep on plastic chairs at the reception. This was last Monday, Cold Day. “I’m always afraid, especially in these cold.” We have stopped, but they are far away. You can drive people there, but they don’t always want, ”says Tilley.
The caterpillar for women also recorded overload of capacity. Twice as much as one. This year, the fourth accommodation offering support services was opened; He filled in two months. And the waiting list is still long.
The organization also changed its refuge and the capacity increased from 61 people to 150 people. But there is still overflow. The refuge had to add 15 beds in two rooms. Every week, however, it is seen by a dozen women. These present there remain an average of six months on average and do not find a long time.
Shelby Almon sits in the office of the director of the cornerstone for women, small, blonde, sparkling and sensitive. 56 -The woman has a apartment with support services for 17 years. After experiencing a violent relationship, she found herself in a wandering situation. She did an overdose. “I wasn’t sick at the hospital, but he wasn’t healthy enough to live in the house.” (…) I have fled my whole life together and my trauma, ”he says. She stopped running in Cornerstone. And she approached the staff.
When Obligation She asks her for the importance of such services, has tears in his eyes. “There are not many options that offer everything and really accept you. Here I realize that I am not the only one with this past and I feel less alone. »»
“We have to do more with less,” said Chris O’Gorman, director of communication in Cornerstone Housing for Women.
In the same district, the center 507 is a source of another species. The organization based in the former church has fewer rules than elsewhere, explains its CEO Richard Leblanc. Several tables and chairs are installed here. Current users discuss this, watch TV and wait for one of the three meals served every day. Place specificity? There are no beds and people can arrive and leave when they want. Between 200 and 300 people, they go through the center of the center every day and spend the night from 40 to 70 of them.
New arrivals, other clientele
In addition, a year and a half ago, Mr. Tilley also saw the face of the Ottawa mission. Several people present in the refuge were new arrivals who did not know where to go. “We don’t refuse anyone,” he said.
Only their needs are not the same. Complete the forms, get identity documents, find accommodation and work: the necessary support differs from the one that has offered people problems with mental health, serious trauma or drug addiction.
The percentage represented by new arrivals for Ottawa mission have recently dropped, from approximately 60 % to approximately 30 % in one year. In Cornerstone Housing for Women, this is approximately 50 % of customers. Indeed, the city of Ottawa has resigned funds to a better idea of host organizations. And the federal government reduced the number of newcomers. To meet the demand, two land was selected by the city to adapt to the immigrants reception. “The centers could open up by the end of 2025,” it can be read on Ottawa.
There were also three temporary reception centers of the homeless with a total capacity of approximately 250 seats: one in the arena, the other in the federal building, the last in the community center
The entire network, including the help organizations, supports 4 % more people than last year, said in writing Obligation Kale Brown, temporary director of housing and roaming in Ottawa. “There are enough places in the shelters for all who need them,” he said.
In 2024, in the federal capital and in 2021, there were 300 people in the federal capital than in 2021 in the federal capital. It seems that their number also increases on the province’s scale. According to the Association of Ontario municipalities, more than 80,000 ontarians have experienced homelessness last year, a number that could triple by 2035.
“We don’t have any data about Ottawa, but that’s a big problem.” There is no dignity on the street. No one chooses it. It is the result of trauma and great events in our lives, ”says David Gourlay, CEO of Bergers of Hope Foundation.
This report benefits from supporting the initiative of local journalism funded by the Canadian government.
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