Pubdate: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Mary-Martha Hale UNDERFUNDED SERVICES The Alliance to End Homelessness applauds the Citizen for stating that our community should not be distracted "from the larger problem of addiction and homelessness." The alliance has long appreciated the truly generous and thoughtful people in Ottawa and their efforts to help homeless people. In our third report card on ending homelessness we documented that 9,010 people were homeless in 2006 and also concluded that we need to increase the resources that target "the reasons why people become addicted or homeless in the first place." The City of Ottawa needs to step up its pressure on the province to increase mental health and addictions treatment and support services in our city. Insufficient funding from the Ontario government is having a direct and increasingly negative impact on services in our community, from housing to public health to policing. At the same time, politicians at all levels need to recognize -- and act on -- the reality that homelessness will continue until our governments move beyond small, incremental increases in the supply of affordable and appropriate housing and equally small increases in income levels for benefits such as Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Program benefits and in the minimum wage. Those in Ottawa who lend a hand or volunteer with homeless people and organizations or donate food or some change to "poke a hole in the wall between panhandlers and the rest of society" are right to expect and even demand changes to public policies that maintain the status quo and continue to create homelessness. Mary-Martha Hale Nepean Chair, Alliance to End Homelessness Director, Centre 454 - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman