Calgary’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness is making progress, but efforts to get people off the street could fail if funding isn’t directed at the root of the problem. The consensus among agencies serving the homeless is that neglecting the needs of child welfare agencies, substance abuse treatment programs and jails is exacerbating the problem regardless of the increased funding given to address homelessness.

The 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness debuted in January 2008, when Calgary’s homeless population peaked at 4,060. That number now sits at 3,000. The plan’s objective was straightforward: “by January 29, 2018, an individual or family will stay in an emergency shelter or sleep outside for no longer than one week before moving into a safe, decent, affordable home with the support needed to sustain it.”

Considering the visibility of homelessness at the time, it seemed an impossible goal. Once the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF), which authored and oversees the plan, revealed it involved giving people homes, it sounded like charity overload in a make-your-own-way city like Calgary.

The Housing First concept, on which the plan is based, originated in New York City in 1992 and had some success. The concept argues that renting an apartment for someone is cheaper than supporting them through shelters and emergency services. Only when one is in a safe place of their own can social agencies effectively treat the problems that led them to the streets.

The CHF claims homeless people with the highest needs cost the traditional system $100,000 per year. If housing them costs a third of that, it makes financial sense to subscribe to Housing First (although a discussion paper from the Calgary Drop-In Centre claims that number is an extreme exaggeration and that the average annual cost of supporting a chronically homeless person in an emergency shelter is closer to $13,000). Calgary became the first Canadian city to implement the model.

Thirty-eight related agencies have signed on to the project, agreeing to collaborate to a much higher degree than ever before. The plan’s supporters believe that collaboration is one of its greatest achievements.

Ald. Druh Farrell, who has been the city’s representative on the Calgary Committee to End Homelessness from the beginning, says the plan is already successful, thanks to improved co-ordination between police, EMS and non-profit agencies, and Calgarians’ increasingly liberal attitudes about poverty.

Although she touts the success of the plan, Farrell says, “with that comes the risk that we lose momentum because people think that the issue’s been addressed.”

According to the CHF, approximately 2,300 people have been aided by the plan, with 85 per cent of those remaining housed.

Not every organization has accepted Housing First as a viable solution to dealing with homelessness and the myriad factors that contribute to it, however. The Doorway, an agency tasked with aiding predominantly homeless youth, is not participating. Marilyn Dyck, The Doorway’s executive director, says no matter how all-encompassing the CHF’s plan becomes, it remains general, unsustainable and misses the point.

The Doorway receives no government or agency funding, relying instead on private donations. That allows the organization to determine its own programming, without donor interference. According to Dyck, program funding that follows a specific set of rules limits the parameters of what an organization can do. In this case, the plan glosses over the individuality of homeless people and the need for a client to accept responsibility for his or her future, she says.

Dyck worries that people working to end homelessness are willing to follow a philosophy with obvious problems because they need the money, and they’re glad to have business and government heed the call for help. “They’re just so damn grateful that somebody’s thinking about it,” she says.

Cash is the one thing everyone agrees on. The need for much more preventative funding — including money for addiction treatment and child welfare — is condemning people to the streets. Despite the money and renewed focus the 10-Year Plan has brought to Calgary’s homeless situation, the recurring concern is that not enough of it is going to the right places.

CHF president Tim Richter says that even though the government is pouring more money than ever into addressing homelessness, long-term success comes down to how it is spent. He is a determined proponent of Housing First, but admits much more money and lives could be saved by acknowledging the roots of the problem.

“What are you going to do with some of those provincial systems that inadvertently contribute to homelessness? Jails that throw people into shelters, child welfare sending people into shelters, people turning 18 and leaving child welfare and being homeless because they’ve got undiagnosed fetal alcohol syndrome.... Same with hospitals — you have people discharged from hospitals into emergency shelters. Stop that cycling.”

Like Farrell and Dyck, Richter is concerned with the problem becoming invisible rather than being solved. He argues the dedication shown across the board by agencies involved in the plan tells him no one is simply exchanging lip service for continued funding. His main concern is translating the sense of urgency to those who could easily forget the 10-Year Plan exists.

“At the end of the day it comes down to political will. We need provincial support and we need to see significant things change within the provincial government in order to end homelessness. We need to keep the support of the city, and we need to keep the support of the public,” he says.

“This conversation’s happening now in government that wasn’t happening three years ago.”