Solving homelessness this week in Halifax

HALIFAX, N.S. — It’s a gathering in Halifax with a truly worthwhile goal — ending homelessness in Canada.

In Halifax this week, for the first time in Atlantic Canada, experts, advocates and people with lived experience of living on the streets will share their successes and knowledge of ending homelessness at the national conference for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH).

Over 1,700 people from across the country (and some from other nations) will share their experiences of what works, what doesn’t and how to make change.

Some of these sessions include:

• hearing from communities that have solved veteran homelessness
• how to turn a NIMBY into a YIMBY (yes in my backyard)
• shining the spotlight on youth, women and gender diverse and Indigenous people who are homeless.

There are also some Nova Scotia-specific sessions as well, including looking at the unintended consequences of growth and how climate change and weather disasters disproportionately impact impoverished people.

“People are working on solutions across the board so this is more a gathering point of let’s shine a light on the solutions that are working,” said Sara Napier, president and CEO of the United Way Halifax, which is partnering with the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre to host the event.

“Another element of the conference that I’m really looking forward to is we’ll have well over 100 delegates who are individuals who have lived experience or living experience in homelessness,” said Napier, adding that their spaces at the conference have been sponsored.

Napier said they’ll be looking at all the root causes of homelessness like affordable housing, income, inclusion, mental health supports and more.

“Homelessness is just such a massive issue in our communities and if we can be bringing the best practices solutions together in one place for learning, if we can bring people who are working on the issues to connect with one another, and if we can draw attention to the types of solutions that are required to address homelessness locally and nationally, then those are all big wins for this community.”

This is their 10th and largest conference with 1,700 delegates in person and another 300 joining in online, said Tim Richter, president and CEO of CAEH, which is a national non-profit.

“It’s a pretty big event landing in Halifax (this) week,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for folks in Halifax to have 1,700 experts from around the country and around the world to draw from, to help solve the problems you face.”

As of the latest count by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia on Oct. 31, there are at least 1,048 people who are actively homeless in HRM. 

“One of the things we’ve learned over the years is everything you need to know about ending homelessness has been done somewhere,”  Richter said. “And what we want to do is bring a bunch of solutions to one place.”

It’s not show and tell, rather it’s giving people the training and tools to go home and make it happen, he said in a phone interview from his home base in Calgary.

Keynote speakers include East Preston’s Sen. Wanda Thomas Bernard, Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and Sean Fraser, federal minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.