Young Edmontonians have their say on ending homelessness in Edmonton

Hearing from constituents is the best part of my job, and I particularly love hearing from our youngest Edmontonians, who often make policy and its impacts on our lives feel tangible through their unique perspectives and insights.

Case in point: scroll down to read through messages from City Hall School students who have shared their thoughts on Edmonton’s work in ending homelessness, how they hope to help and use their voice for change. Take a look at how they have made clear their priorities on ending homelessness and poverty.

Today we released a new episode of Mayor Reads, where I read “The One with the Scraggly Beard” by author (and former writer-in-residence at the Edmonton Public Library) Elizabeth Withey. Withey shares a moving story about her son’s experience meeting her brother who experienced homelessness and how he related to the man he met who sleeps outside. 

This story is a powerful reminder of why we worked hard to expand shelter capacity through Tipinawâw to ensure Edmontonians have a safe, healthy and dignified place to stay, and if needed, to isolate during this pandemic. 

However, as City Hall has long maintained, shelters are a bandaid and housing is the solution to ending homelessness. Which is why the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) from the federal government is an important step forward in our goal to end homelessness in our city. The money we have so far received from RHI will allow the City of Edmonton and our housing provider partners to move forward on building 210 modular units this summer for supportive and affordable housing. 

Let me focus on supportive housing in particular: for folks to successfully stay housed, the units the City and the Federal government are building here in Edmonton require wrap around supports to ensure those accessing the housing are provided services and health supports. These services and health supports fall under the jurisdiction of the province, which is why I was disappointed I did not see a funding commitment to provide wrap-around support services for these units in the 2021 provincial budget.

An investment in ending homelessness not only saves us millions of dollars in justice and health care costs, it also ensures we’ll emerge from this pandemic a more just and equitable society and if these messages below are any indication, that is also what our young Edmontonians want.