Offering a secure building, a space to make your own and a fresh start, Alouette Special Care Home in Dieppe, N.B., currently has 15 empty beds.
“For people who are serious and do want to improve their lives, it’s very successful,” said Elizabeth McLay, the administrator at the home.
The 55-unit facility works with the Department of Social Development to place in-need people, who are still able to do things independently, in a secure environment.
“Social development will top up these residence in their disability support program and that helps them pay the rent here. So, what they’re left with is an allowance of $135,” said McLay.
Even though $135 doesn’t seem like a lot, she says most of their expenses are covered.
“Then we take care of a lot for them. Such as making sure their meals are made, making sure they get their medications, which is great for people who have been on the streets because often they’re without their medication, which makes their lives much more difficult, and we clean their rooms, make sure they get to all their doctors appointments,” she added.
McLay says generally, clients come from the streets or they’ve been evicted from another home. She adds that Alouette Special Care Home focuses on helping people with mental illness and/or physical disabilities.
“I think that a lot of people that are on the street probably didn’t want to end up there,” she said. “Something happened and they ended up in a situation where they lost their job or they needed a medication change and it didn’t work out for them, and if you could just be that person, that one person who can lend them a bit of a helping hand, who can just give them another chance, then they could be somebody who’s productive and helps other people.”
Right now Alouette Special Care Home works with the House of Nazareth, but says it’s open to working with other organizations in the area to help.
“We’re here waiting to help them,” she said.
Although one solution, officials say there needs to be a variety of resources in order to combat the bigger overall issue.
“235,000 people are impacted every year and that's going to take an army of people to turn around,” said Tim Richter, the president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH). “Not only to turn around in communities like Moncton and to do the work of ending homelessness and moving people into housing and providing those supports, but also, you know, helping us move public opinion and change the policies that created it in the first place."
He says CAEH often talks about homelessness as an “unnatural disaster” and says it should be treated in a similar matter.
“The first thing you’ve got to do is keep people safe, you know, bring them in and make sure they have shelter, but focus really quickly on getting people back into their homes and than thinking about, ‘How do we prevent this from happening again,’” he said.
In October, the provincial government announced $8M over the next three years to help reduce chronic homelessness and support emergency shelters in New Brunswick.
Officials say the Department of Social Development is now working with multiple partners to determine the final details.
