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Hi folks, I just wanted to share about an initiative that I think is really important called All In 2020 through the Homelessness Housing Umbrella Group (HHUG). They have a plan in place about how to end chronic homelessness in our community by 2020 but it definitely will take the work of many in the community to make it happen. I know they are looking for help in spreading the word to get more people involved. If it interests you at all, please connect with them and/or share the initiative with others. I wrote a quick blog post about it here: http://www.melissabowmanward9.ca/365ofgo...ella-group or you can just go straight to their website: https://www.hhug.ca/ to find out more. Thanks!
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Thanks for posting this!
Is HHUG working with the cities as well as the Region? It would make sense to involve as many groups as possible I'd think.
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(01-22-2019, 09:23 AM)Spokes Wrote: Thanks for posting this!
Is HHUG working with the cities as well as the Region? It would make sense to involve as many groups as possible I'd think.
Yes! They are reaching out to anyone and everyone, including municipalities but also organizations, neighbourhood associations, and individuals. I believe their goal is attainable but it will definitely take many hands to make it happen!
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An interesting article on using a data-based approach to achieve "functional zero" (as opposed to absolute zero) homelessness:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90316607/3-c...hey-did-it
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(01-22-2019, 09:31 AM)dtkmelissa Wrote: (01-22-2019, 09:23 AM)Spokes Wrote: Thanks for posting this!
Is HHUG working with the cities as well as the Region? It would make sense to involve as many groups as possible I'd think.
Yes! They are reaching out to anyone and everyone, including municipalities but also organizations, neighbourhood associations, and individuals. I believe their goal is attainable but it will definitely take many hands to make it happen! Are there any details yet on the program? I see that they are looking for donations and social media publicity, but I wonder whether that's really enough to achieve the goal. Good intentions are all good but if we really want to conquer homelessness I think we will need something more than just a donation campaign.
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(03-17-2019, 11:22 AM)tomh009 Wrote: (01-22-2019, 09:31 AM)dtkmelissa Wrote: Yes! They are reaching out to anyone and everyone, including municipalities but also organizations, neighbourhood associations, and individuals. I believe their goal is attainable but it will definitely take many hands to make it happen! Are there any details yet on the program? I see that they are looking for donations and social media publicity, but I wonder whether that's really enough to achieve the goal. Good intentions are all good but if we really want to conquer homelessness I think we will need something more than just a donation campaign.
I'll post a few more details about the program but the article shared in this thread is very similar to what's happening here. There are a lot of conversations and connections happening between organizations, groups, and associations on what steps they can take to help address the challenges. We're fortunate in our area, as Waterloo Region is one of only (or the only) Canadian city who has created a 'by-name' list (as mentioned in the article). This seems to be a key component in tracking what's actually happening and then being able to take specific steps based on that data, to improve conditions. I'll post more shortly, but hopefully that provides a bit more context.
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Not sure if this is the correct thread, but it was interesting to see that the House of Friendship will be using two locations in Waterloo (plus St Mark’s Lutheran) to house almost 200 homeless people for the coming year.
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Does Waterloo know this yet ?
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(10-01-2020, 04:57 PM)Rainrider22 Wrote: Does Waterloo know this yet ?
They will if we keep chatting about it.
No, they DO NOT know. But it's not illegal, so unsure that they could have done anything about it.
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I am sure it won't take long for the objections to make their way to Counsel.
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This is the closest existing thread I thought was applicable.
https://twitter.com/insidewaterloo/statu...2540625920
Seems today the region bulldozed (literally with a bulldozer) the homeless encampment at Stirling and Charles.
This is utterly cruel and evil for so many reasons, this was all the belongings these people had, there was no complaints from the community, destroying what little protection these people have from the elements could easily prove fatal.
Interestingly multiple councillors have also responded and reported they were unaware this action would be taken, which is frankly, really surprising. This kind of action should not be taken unilaterally by staff, and frankly, could be career limiting move by someone at the region.
Honestly, this is all kinds of horrible, and an emotional rollercoaster today. From horror and sadness, to fury, to schadenfreude and satisfaction at hearing this decision was potentially made unilaterally by staff and that the individual doing this might actually suffer some small amount of consequences (dare I say justice) for such a cold hearted action, and back to sadness.
But ultimately, I just do not know what to do to help here.
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(It seems the Twitter tags blanked out the entire post so I removed those)
This is the latest update:
Quote:UPDATE: @tomjgalloway14 said in an email that he’s trying to figure out what happened and that “Council gave no direction to remove any residents of any encampments. The protocol is only for outreach workers to work with encampment residents to consider and find alternatives.”
I suspect we won't know until Monday what actually happened, and who made the decision to do it. It does appear to be regional staff that made the call, and not the council (and also not WRPS although they did assist).
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(11-26-2021, 11:22 PM)tomh009 Wrote: (It seems the Twitter tags blanked out the entire post so I removed those)
This is the latest update:
Quote:UPDATE: @tomjgalloway14 said in an email that he’s trying to figure out what happened and that “Council gave no direction to remove any residents of any encampments. The protocol is only for outreach workers to work with encampment residents to consider and find alternatives.”
I suspect we won't know until Monday what actually happened, and who made the decision to do it. It does appear to be regional staff that made the call, and not the council (and also not WRPS although they did assist).
Thanks Tom...I didn't notice, sorry.
Yeah, that's a third councillor who was taken by surprise.
The region also put out a very mediocre, and frankly, unbelievable statement, claiming more or less that they already worked with everyone to leave and they were all gone...which doesn't really jive with pictures of people crying as their worldly belongings are bulldozed into a pile.
I continue to have little trust in our regional staff.
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(11-26-2021, 11:47 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: (11-26-2021, 11:22 PM)tomh009 Wrote: (It seems the Twitter tags blanked out the entire post so I removed those)
This is the latest update:
I suspect we won't know until Monday what actually happened, and who made the decision to do it. It does appear to be regional staff that made the call, and not the council (and also not WRPS although they did assist).
Thanks Tom...I didn't notice, sorry.
Yeah, that's a third councillor who was taken by surprise.
The region also put out a very mediocre, and frankly, unbelievable statement, claiming more or less that they already worked with everyone to leave and they were all gone...which doesn't really jive with pictures of people crying as their worldly belongings are bulldozed into a pile.
I continue to have little trust in our regional staff.
I can almost guarantee you that WRPS was behind this (and not just in front, as they were today).
Continues to remind me "why the hell was WRPS (DC Hilton) involved with the rollout of the vaccine?". Anyway, that's another topic. But I really do think in this case, WRPS may have initiated the process. I do believe they have the authority to remove and relocate.
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(11-26-2021, 11:58 PM)jeffster Wrote: (11-26-2021, 11:47 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Thanks Tom...I didn't notice, sorry.
Yeah, that's a third councillor who was taken by surprise.
The region also put out a very mediocre, and frankly, unbelievable statement, claiming more or less that they already worked with everyone to leave and they were all gone...which doesn't really jive with pictures of people crying as their worldly belongings are bulldozed into a pile.
I continue to have little trust in our regional staff.
I can almost guarantee you that WRPS was behind this (and not just in front, as they were today).
Continues to remind me "why the hell was WRPS (DC Hilton) involved with the rollout of the vaccine?". Anyway, that's another topic. But I really do think in this case, WRPS may have initiated the process. I do believe they have the authority to remove and relocate.
I find that entirely believable, but they are blaming the region, police made a statement on it. Not that I think they wouldn’t lie.
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