05-28-2022, 04:13 PM
(05-28-2022, 12:59 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Funny, nowhere did I suggest that they needed to find a job or pay a bill to get a home. Just. Give. Them. Homes.
I agree that a basic standard of living should be available, no questions asked. That being said, there are some significant challenges to actually doing this.
One is that unless the project is a nation-wide project, something needs to be done to avoid attracting people from elsewhere. If the Region of Waterloo starts housing people for free, then pretty soon the program will become very popular with people from all over the country. Obviously, this is not within the resources of this Region.
Another is that some people do not have the skills to live in ordinary housing. Those people who used to be in mental institutions didn’t just disappear, and their problems weren’t entirely caused by the mental institutions. I’m sure there are people who if just given a chance (housing and some food stability) would be able to put themselves back together, but there are others who will always need more support than just the basic access to resources.
Another issue is how to divide between people in the program and people not in the program. If we’re giving out free housing, is it open to truly anybody? If so, we’re going to need to provide a lot more than would appear from current homeless numbers. There are lots of people in low-quality apartments who would jump at the opportunity to move into free accommodation.
None of these should be used as excuses for inaction, but doing something that actually solves the problem permanently is not as easy as it might appear at first.