Housing supports key to reducing negative downtown impacts

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on January 13, 2023.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke Lethbridge Housing Authority's Robin James speaks during Thursday's SACPA session.

Most parties in Lethbridge are agreed that solutions to the city’s homelessness problem need to be found sooner rather than later.

The Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs hosted Robin James, CAO with the Lethbridge Housing Authority, during its weekly meeting this Thursday.

James spoke about the housing issue surrounding homelessness and the process of creating a housing continuum in Lethbridge.

James was invited to speak following a presentation she delivered to City Council back in Dec. 2022 on supportive housing.

“I was looking to repurpose a couple of buildings, do some land zoning changes, and a do a new definition called ‘Supportive Housing Unrestricted for our City’. We did receive a great amount of flak and feedback, that wasn’t particularly positive. I think it is wonderful opportunity for me to be able to stand here before you and get out the right information and make sure that we are all presenting things in a way that informs people and makes us understand the housing continuum.”

The Housing Continuum, as described by James, is a pathway of housing options available in our communities. Traversing through homelessness, emergency shelter, transitional housing, supportive housing, community housing, affordable housing, and market housing.

“We have a large gap in our city that needs to be addressed,” said James. “It is a matter of making sure we are getting the message out there and talking about the supportive housing piece and trying to uncouple people’s perception that crime and supportive housing are together. They are not. They are very separate issues. Once we can safely and securely get people housed, and settle them in something that is the right housing with the right supports for their needs, then we are going to start to see some of that impact in our city.”

Tackling hard stigmas, the Housing Authority is hoping to pass along an understanding of progress and steps to a better future, rather than taking people from one continuum to the next without any skills to survive.

“When we are taking people from homelessness and housing them, people are feeling that will create, or they perceive that it will, crime in that area. But when people are supported adequately, we are not just throwing them into a house anywhere and then trying to support them. We are talking about designing housing that has supports in it to ensure the success of the client.”

Sharing examples with audiences, James connects our treatment of others and how we treat homelessness.

“We recognize that as people age, maybe we are not taking care of ourselves as much as we need to be,” said James. “We recognize that we need to keep you safe, we are going to put you somewhere where we can keep you safe, we are going to feed you three meals a day, we want to make sure you do not freeze to death when you lose your way. We don’t do that to our homeless people, and we don’t do that to our people in need.”

Noting issues faced in the city besides perception, James related the number facing homelessness (450 in the latest PiT count) and the space for housing.

“If you want to address your tent cities, you have to address this housing continuum, and then properly addressing housing with appropriate support,” said James. “There is a lot of complexities that need to be dealt with before those facing these issues can be in that market.”

With homelessness a fear for everyone in today’s uncertain economic climate, James’ discussion helped create more understanding of how we view housing issues in our city. “If you want to look at issues that face the downtown, when you start, appropriately, putting supports around people, and house them in supportive housing or transitional housing, then you are not going to see the same amount of that negative impact in your downtown,” said James.