On my East Hamilton street sits a small park. For over a year, up to 20 people have been sheltering there under tarps and tents.
Park infrastructure wasn’t built for this: the sole garbage can overflows; a pile of empty propane tanks grows; worn mud paths tell the story of human movement; there are no bathroom facilities.
People are not living; they are surviving. They’re existing in parallel to the housed people in my neighbourhood – so close, but so disconnected.
To see this kind of living-rough homelessness would have been shocking just four years ago. Today, this is only one of dozens of encampments in my neighbourhood. Officially, we have more than 1600 people who are homeless in Hamilton.
We feel compassion for the suffering. I’m a Christian and I think about the example of Jesus who went out to encampments. At that time, they were filled with people with the disease of leprosy. People were forced to live separately, cut off from the rest of society.
But is it compassionate to leave people unsheltered, exposed to the elements, and disconnected from the people around them? Are encampments our new norm?
How did we get here?Â
| Decade | Events that matter to the people we serve | Indwell’s response/impact |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s – 70s | -Psychiatric units close, and hospitals provide short-term treatment for mental illness -Services are available to people with chronic mental illness, including lodging homes, social housing, and support clinics | -1974: Indwell (then The Homestead) begins transitional residence-based rehab program |
| 1980s | -Economic and social policy shift; investment in social housing declines across North America | -People access social or subsidized housing after living with Indwell |
| 1990s | -Social housing, subsidized construction programs end -Ontario social assistance slashed by 21% | -Fewer supportive housing options impact Indwell’s transitional model |
| 2000s | -2001: Affordable Housing Act replaces social housing; focus shifts to private sector creating affordable units. -2003: Housing allowance for people using ODSP matches market rate in Hamilton | -2006: Indwell builds first new affordable housing building -Indwell revises supportive housing model and continues to add new units. |
| 2010s | -Large control trial of Housing First methodology affirms supportive housing, but no significant change in policy or funding -2006 – 2016: Increased number of people with psychiatric admission discharged to homelessness -Drug crisis grows | -2014: rebranding to Indwell -2016: Indwell becomes a health service provider -Tenants moving into Indwell apartments have 90% or better chance of retaining their home |
| 2020- | -COVID-19 pandemic occurs -Secondary pandemic of visible homelessness in growing encampments -No update of federal homelessness plan post-pandemic; no funding of existing plans -No provincial homelessness plan -Municipal plans don’t anticipate affordability crisis -Chronic homelessness grows among people with mental health disabilities | -Indwell opens new programs, including program model for people leaving encampments -2023: people supported in 1,000+ Indwell homes -Partnerships created for Indwell to operate municipally owned housing in St. Thomas, Waterloo Region, London, Hamilton |
There is good news. Homelessness is not an incurable condition. Homelessness is solvable. How do I know?
In the first six months of 2023, we moved 160 people from homelessness into housing. A year later, 96% of those 160 people remain housed. Each one took the label of homeless and discarded it, not to be picked up again.
It brings me back to Jesus. He not only went into encampments, but he connected with people, bringing healing and restoration to individuals and to their community. Formerly ostracized people could move home. Following Jesus’ example, we can open more doors together.
In the city I want to live in, people experience three things:
- Home: The only way to end homelessness is with a home. For individuals to be successful in that home, it needs to be affordable, of good quality, and meet the needs of the individual.
- Support and healthcare: We all need strong natural supports like friends, family, and neighbours as well as access to professional healthcare that includes assessments, referrals, treatment, navigation and follow-up.
- Belonging: For us to thrive we need to be part of something — to be known and to belong. We need to be recognized for what we bring, not just for our deficits.
What can we do – as individuals and as organizations?
- Lead the way: Lead with our commitment to value the God-given dignity of all humans, with a commitment to end homelessness, and with our resources.
- Bring others with us: Help others believe that ending homelessness is possible.
- Disrupt the system: Change the trajectory of the historical timeline. Show what’s possible.
In the city I want to live in, we all experience home.
We have deep and enduring supports — friends, family, professionals — walking alongside us. We experience belonging and contribute to our community. Some will say, “It’s not possible.” Some will create a false dichotomy, tear down the tents and lock up those experiencing homelessness. Others will advocate to leave the tents alone and let people live the way they wish.
But there is a third way, rooted in dignity, love and hope. A way that says, “You are valuable. Life can be better. You are worthy of giving love and receiving love.” In the city I want to live in tents are not necessary because everyone has a home.
Let’s commit to making this vision a reality and get to work creating the city we want to live in.
