Advocates and support workers across Canada attended an annual Regina homelessness conference to collaborate on solutions for tackling the societal issue. The sixth annual Reaching Home Homelessness Conference was held at Queensbury Convention Centre on Thursday. This year’s event focused on Hope and Prevention while recognizing the 10th anniversary of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. “I hope [people] remember that 94 Calls to Action is something that’s ongoing and that prevention and diversion are really the key,” explained Robert Byers, president and CEO of the Namerind Housing Corporation. “A couple of years ago we had the mayor of Houston here, where they reduced homelessness by over 60 per cent. It was coordinated access, it was prevention, it was diversion. Those are the things that work, emergency shelters and encampments they don’t work.” Connie Walker, one of the six guest speakers at the event, said educating people on the history of Indigenous people helps to create a better understanding about those who are experiencing homelessness today. “When you’re thinking about the overrepresentation of First Nations people and Indigenous people in Canada … experiencing homelessness, I think that you won’t have to go very far to understand how that’s connected back to the history in Canada, in Saskatchewan, and how it’s connected back to Indian residential schools," the investigative journalist told CTV News. “I think that creating some space for understanding, education and empathy is one of the responsibilities of being a journalist, I believe, and so that’s my goal.” The other guest speakers at the event were Marie Wilson, Cadmus Delorme, Brenda Reynolds, Melanie Redman and Stephen Gaetz. National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI) – an organization focused on improving Indigenous housing – was one of the 350 people to attend the event. The organization’s CEO John Gordon said its model of allocating federal funding to Indigenous housing providers could be applied to creating homes for people who are unhoused. “We are of the belief that the solutions to housing and homelessness … are really in communities already there,” said Gordon. “Local Indigenous housing providers, local Indigenous organizations, they have answers and solutions to the problems. What we need to do is find ways to empower them.” Gordon added that NICHI is able to put people into homes at a faster rate than the federal government can. “We’re wondering if the homelessness model could follow the same model of ‘For Indigenous by Indigenous’ of a national Indigenous body, taking the homeless funding from the federal government and then dispersing it to local Indigenous organizations to address the homelessness situation,” he explained. “Just taking what we’ve done on housing and moving it to the homelessness file.” Gordon added those in power have to begin really thinking about how housing and homelessness are connected. “You can take somebody up that’s living rough or having some challenges of being homeless. We can put them in shelter, but if we don’t have a transitional space for them after the shelter, and if we don’t have long-term affordable housing, we just run into the cyclical nature of falling out of the cracks and back into homelessness again,” Gordon explained. City applies for $2M provincial funding This year, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Social Services has invested more than $10 million in homelessness services in Regina. In a statement to CTV News, the ministry called the issue of homelessness a “shared responsibility for all levels of government.” “The Government of Saskatchewan works in partnership with municipalities, Indigenous organizations and community agencies to address homelessness,” the statement read. “This year, the province is investing more than $10 million in homelessness services in Regina, supporting organizations that deliver supportive housing, outreach programs and 142 enhanced emergency shelter spaces that provide 24/7 access, case planning and referrals to community or government supports and cultural services.” As well as $2 million in funding for the City of Regina to direct to community-led homelessness priorities and strategies in the community. “This investment strengthens community-based supports, improves access to housing and services and helps us work together to achieve better outcomes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness,” the province added in its statement. “Since launching the Provincial Approach to Homelessness in 2023, the Government of Saskatchewan has invested more than $98 million in homelessness services in communities across the province, strengthening community capacity and supporting collaborative, locally driven solutions through partnerships with municipalities, Indigenous organizations, service providers and community agencies.”
