Poverty a major reason for our problems
By Letter to the Editor on April 15, 2021.
Editor: The discussion around people experiencing homelessness, addictions, and disrupted mental health continues apace both in this paper and in other venues around the city. It is worth noting the problem is largely poverty.
In 2018, with a population of 99,769 (City of Lethbridge, 2018), the city had 223 unhoused people (Homeless Hub, 2021). At that time, the city also had approximately 3,000 people who were living on incomes under $900/month for a variety of reasons (Homeless Hub, 2021). Of the individuals experiencing homelessness, 65% identified as female, and 37.4% were individuals under 18 years of age, the greatest demographic age group represented in the data (Turner Strategies, 2018).
Since this data was collected, we have experienced an increase in jobless rates by one half in this province (Alberta, 2021), an economic downturn, and a global pandemic. One can only assume, without current data readily available, that the aforementioned numbers have increased. Nevertheless, the data bears out that over half of the city’s unhoused population identifies as young and female. To my neighbours in London Road, Victoria Park, and the downtown core, these people are our neighbours and we have a duty to support them.
The loudest public dialogue in the city has been from individuals and groups who are opposed to our inadequately housed neighbours for a variety of reasons which will not be highlighted here. These same have offered solutions that involve criminalizing and/or moving the unhoused population away from the downtown core and adjacent neighbourhoods where services, food, transit, and community are most easily accessed. This NIMBYism often takes the form of fear or discomfort but does not offer solutions that are respectful or thoughtful, nor do they address the root causes of homelessness and addictions in our community which primarily occur due to a complex interplay of poverty and adverse lifetime events and traumas.
Neither is there any attention given to the fact that we do not even have half enough beds available to provide safe, albeit temporary, shelter for the city’s unhoused population.
The fact is that the city we live in is growing and changing, and we are not providing the supports necessary to ensure all of its citizens can experience safe, fulfilling lives here.
Rather than advocating for a ghettoization of individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness in Lethbridge, we would be well advised to seek long term solutions to support all our neighbours. Our city is a reflection of all of us.
As such, Housing First, a no-strings-attached approach to providing shelter, should be our priority.
The money funnelled into adversarial, law-based groups would be better spent maintaining housing for our 223 unhoused neighbours.
Data from around the world indicates that this approach works and makes good economic sense (Young & Manion, 2017; Larimer, Malone, Garner, et. al, 2009; Chung et al 2017; Macnaughton et al, 2019; Collins et al, 2019).
Utah provides an excellent case study of what can happen when Housing First is implemented by the government and supported by the community.
Following implementation of Housing First, our community should be advocating for Universal Basic Income.
Again, worldwide data bears out that having enough income to meet one’s daily needs provides a sense of security, feelings of belonging and wellbeing, and motivation to contribute to the community (Yoo et al., 2020, 2019; McKinsey report on Finland, 2020; Banerjee et al, 2020; Oemmelen, 2020). What has been framed in the local media and elsewhere as a problem of addictions, criminality, or other antisocial behaviours is, at its core, a problem of poverty and one which we are obligated to address for the health of our community.
We can solve what we perceive as issues not by banishing our neighbours to the outskirts of the city but rather by ensuring that we all have our needs met. There is more than enough here for us all.
Mary Greenshields
Lethbridge
-1
All of this. Thank you, Mary. Excellent letter.
When people say “homeless”, they imply that people are in danger of freezing or starving to death. As such, there are no “homeless” people in Lethbridge.
The so called homeless in Lethbridge get free shelter, free clothing, and 3 square meals a day. Further to that, the homeless addicts didn’t appear out of thin air. They left their home to get all the free stuff in Lethbridge and participate in the old party place drug house that we used to have.
Also, let’s keep in mind that there is a difference between homeless through no fault of their own, and homeless by choice.
Here-here! you hit the nail squarely on the head Seth! As politicly-incorrect as it sounds! The truth is seldom excepted in the so-called “Woke” circles.
My job takes me close to these people from time to time so I get to sample their attitudes and thoughts on certain issues.
Yes there is a percentage that would seem to me to require mental-help with kick-starting their life and that society should assist. But a huge number of them refuse to go back home where their greatest resources are and choose to blend-in with the street population. Crying the blues for these people is the last thing they need. I have been told by many “I don’t need to get a job I get everything for free” This attitude is very problematic and should be addressed on as many fronts as possible.
As far as 65% being female I would submit that this number is cooked for some other agenda based on my experience over the last twenty years in my line of work.
Anyone can have a child; that’s the easiest thing in the world to do so it’s little wonder our world is so over populated. Human population is out of control and its leading to major social and economic woes. We need to control our species and allow people to have children if they can do so responsibly. Allowing a drug addict or alcoholic to have kids or some refugee living in a tent with bombs blasting overhead is hardly responsible. That is child abuse before they are even born. These kinds of scenarios serve to produce defective humans born with trauma, FAS etc. etc. Off loading them on to society is no answer; its a burden. What we should be focusing on is mitigating the root cause of the problem. More free housing; free food, free clothing, free medicine and programs is not the solution.
Completely agree.
Here’s a shocking stat: 39% of babies born on the Blood reserve are born addicted to narcotics. If that wasn’t shocking enough, note that the 39% does not include the amount of babies born with FAS.
So what does council do? What do the new council candidates say? Well, they say and do more of the dumba-ss non-solutions like, “a few million for more indigenous friendship centers”. ” A few million more for more indigenous resource centres”. “A few million more to house them” (this despite they LEFT their house, and everyone knows that addict housing will be trashed, turned into cesspool of drugs and crime, and destroy the surrounding community.
Enough of these “feel good” non-solutions by bleeding hearts! These “I’m a do gooder!” solutions do nothing to help the addicts or address root causes. In fact, these solutions just cause further harm to the addicts and everyone else.
The first thing is getting parenting skills education on the reserve. Reason being, their kids are being taught to be racist, hateful, and shameful. Ask anyone like myself who has worked on the blood reserve and they will tell you that the racism there is rampant. It’s not just from the adults either. It often included kids throwing rocks at us and yelling out profanities and racial slurs. Their minds are being corrupted by hatred, anger, and shame. Those are painful psychological characteristics that easily get quenched via drug and alcohol abuse. Is it any wonder why their addiction rate is extraordinarily high?
The second thing is, court ordered long term rehab to get these people to stop harming themselves and others.
a letter that is compassionate and supported by research…and then, we have the meek rebuttals that are opinionated, self assured, and of course, lack support. curious how so many people that live well off the land are so bent on justifying their good lot in life that they would deny certain realities: luck foremost, which one could break down into privileges such as the good home they were raised in, a good brain, a good body, sound mental and emotional disposition. yes, we can reference the examples of those that have been strong enough to overcome whatever, but they are the very relative few, not nearly the majority.
prairiebreeze notes trauma and fasd – the former often a great challenge to overcome, and the latter is currently an impossibility. rather than address the reality that such people are here, however, – and they comprise the vast majority of homeless and addicted – they would rather wave some magic wand that only allows lucky and privileged people to create what we hope would be lucky and privileged babies.
seth falls into the usual ruse of dismissing homelessness as a compassionate concern because not enough of them are freezing to death. to borrow one of seth’s favourite words – arrogance – might it be arrogance that underscores that position, and further highlights a “difference between homeless through no fault of their own, and homeless by choice.”
given the negative replies here and elsewhere in this forum, you would think people in need truly strive for their hardships, “choose to be homeless”. yet, it is extremely hard to live on the streets; so hard in fact, that most would rather work at minimum wage and share a living space with others – and all the annoyance and loss of privacy that entails – rather than enjoy the wonderful, free luxuries that come with homelessness. gosh, to be homeless is about as privileged as being a monarch or an heir/heiress…everything given to you; what majesty.
we have the bean counters – the ones that covet stuff and money, that in fact, allow money to limit us when in fact we have no limits to provide for each…save for the limits of money. and money, folks, is a false construct that is made a primacy by a bogus system that is entrenched because it has proven the best way for selfish, self serving control freaks to control the masses and live off of their labour.
those that believe they are entitled to so much more than others are sick; those that believe they are entitled to anything their money can buy are delusional: hence, what has become an exponential destruction of the systems that we need to sustain life on this planet. incredible, but most people still envy and aspire to such behaviour, rather than reject and revile it.
the news today shows that the canadian public purse has given over to the fossil fuel industry 18 billion dollars of our money. money has its limits, and it limits us from being better, but it is always there for taking by those that have more than fair share already, many, many times over.
I made logical statements, but you replied with a wall of emotional statements. If you actually have logical refutations to the points I made, then I would happy to hear them.
biff points out your lack of compassion. Hardly a wall of emotion. :::rolleyes:::
Given that my points in that post had nothing to do with compassion or a lack-there-of, then I suggest it would be more accurate to state that Biff erroneously pointed out my lack of compassion 🙂
Regardless, I have bounds of compassion. What I don’t have compassion for, is any so called “solution” that allows the addict to continuously harm themselves and other people. My idea of compassion would be court ordered long term rehabilitation.
it is also emotion when people choose to be colder and less compassionate. it has been said there are only two true emotions: love and fear.
Bravo Mary !!! This letter is Brilliant! Well done. It says it all! I hope you send it to every MLA in the province, particularly ours in Lethbridge East and West ,and especially to Mr. Kenny. In addition it should go to everyone of our illustrious MP’s and Prime Minister who recently just gave themselves a raise. Which is absolutely disgraceful, shameful and disgusting, Especially when every community throughout the country is facing similar circumstances. I hope this letter is posted in every editorial page throughout the country. You are my HERO . WELL DONE! If only everyone simply; treated those disadvantaged with dignity and respect, and offered some element of assistance when necessary, rather than unjustified judgement!