One year after Halifax camp eviction, more people are homeless than ever

Halifax homelessness and the housing crisis will be further highlighted by police-led encampment evictions in August 2021 It's been getting worse and worse.

As of the end of August last year, 316 of his people were chronically homeless in the municipality, according to data from the Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Association.

Chronic Homelessness means without suitable housing for more than six months.

That number is 469 this week, an increase of 153, or nearly 50%.

Read more: Documents show Halifax's "conscious decision" to quietly carry out the camp eviction.

It's a troubling increase, but not surprising to Jeff Karabanow, a professor of social work at Dalhousie University. Continued under

"I see more people on the streets. Over the past year, I've seen more people suffering," said Karavanaugh. .

"We are facing the largest housing crisis ever."

Read more: Half of those arrested at tense Halifax housing protests are no longer charged, he said.

"We're missing out on people who don't want to be counted, who are couchsurfing, who aren't connected to the organizational system," Caravanaugh said.

"Of course the numbers will be much, much higher."

"Catastrophe." Hundreds of Halifax Regional Police officers descended on parks around the municipality to clear vacant homes. People who have nowhere else to go and stay in crisis shelters and tents.

Hundreds of people flooded downtown Halifax to protest the removal of shelters, resulting in police spraying the crowd with pepper spray and arresting more than 20 people. rice field.

The municipality then claimed to provide alternative housing options for all displaced persons, butthe council later admitted that this was not the case.

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Reflecting on the response a year later, Karabanow described the situation as a "catastrophe."

"We have seen the real, real disrespect of the state and its mechanisms for those who have no other means of survival," he said.

Following the eviction, some displaced persons moved to Mar Park, also known as People's Park, on the northern edge of the city.

But earlier this summer, the city designated four other outdoor spaces where people could evacuate, none of which were in Marger Park. was. And the park was emptied earlier this monthso the city can clean it up.

READ MORE: Meagher Park Fenced and 'Physically Safe': Halifax Regional Police

It was clear that evictions demonstrated the importance of an empathetic, trauma-based approach when working with uninhabited people, and that some lessons were learned.

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"The dates were much clearer this time," he said, referring to an empty lot in Meagher Park.

"I learned something a year ago because there was more contact between the police and the city and people experiencing homelessness in the park."

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``We have a problem'' He said.

"Moving someone from one place to another … there is no stability that can be offered to people who are really, really suffering," Caravanaugh said.

"So it is not surprising that all interventions have problems."

Read More: Hari Fax City Council approves plan to set up tent sites in four city parks amid housing crisis

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This Karabanow described it as a "macroeconomic crisis" as more and more people in the region struggle with homelessness. It took a long time to reach this point. Fixing it will take a long time.

While some have attributed the homelessness crisis to a pandemic, he said it was only amplifying a problem that had existed for decades.

“For more than 20 years, we have been arguing and advocating for affordable housing shortages, public housing shortages, and non-market economy housing shortages,” he said.

READ MORE: Why Halifax has specific parks for the homeless, expert says The House Says

Caravanaugh said all levels of government are making "deep, deep investments not just in housing, but in other issues that contribute to homelessness, such as food insecurity, child welfare and health care."

"We are coming out of one disaster, but over the last couple of decades there has been a lack of investment and insight into all these systems." I'm experiencing it first-hand, I'm seeing it first-hand, and it's going to show up soon," he said.

"And it is the people who really need those systems who suffer the most."

"One person on the street is too many."

However, Karabanov hopes that things will improve. As a result, the government has made some changes and started thinking outside the box.

"Collaboration between different sectors is increasing. Governments at all levels are taking this more seriously. 'There are more imaginative initiatives in place,' he said.

Housing is a state responsibility, and Karabanow said the city is working to increase its affordable housing stock to that end, but the city plans to introduce modular his units. I also worked on

, said the government needs to think creatively to get more people accommodated as soon as possible before the situation gets worse. One option, he said, might be to take advantage of empty spaces that employers have been slow to refill during the pandemic.

The number of unaccommodated people is increasing. Meanwhile, Caravanaugh said there is still time to address the problem before other cities such as Toronto and Vancouver start seeing the same level of homelessness.

"Our numbers are still manageable and as a community we can mobilize quickly to make a big impact on this population. I suffer, ”said Karabanov.

``One person is too many people on the streets, but the government needs to mobilize now to provide massive investment so that the majority of the homeless can be removed fairly quickly.

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