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21 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,N ovem ber 18,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca Make sure your roof is winter-proof FSRoofSystems.com Book your inspection and maintenance today. 24/7 emergency service also available. Tim Demers Owner/Operator C: 519-827-4638 T: 519-623-1999 Tim@FSRoofSystems.com like criminal justice, hos- pitals and child protection are vulnerable to experi- encing homelessness. This can be prevented by ensur- ing they have help with transitioning into appro- priate housing. Another critical area for prevention is youth homelessness. Over one- third of adults experienc- ing homelessness report first being homeless in their youth. A Way Home Canada sees youth home- lessness as key to ending all homelessness in Cana- da. It has demonstration projects in three Canadian cities built on a Housing First for Youth frame- work. INVESTING IN AN END TO HOMELESSNESS Ending homelessness requires a shift away from the belief that one program or intervention will solve homelessness to a shared understanding that inter- connected systemic fac- tors must be addressed. We need governments to heavily invest in afford- able housing while also regulating the housing market. We need funding of essential support servic- es that will help individu- als quickly access safe, af- fordable housing and be able to remain there. We need funding to help pre- vent homelessness, includ- ing eviction and transi- tional supports and a focus on preventing youth homelessness. The money to pay for this is already there. Much of it is spent dealing with the consequences of home- lessness. There is tremen- dous opportunity to refo- cus resources from manag- ing the symptoms to pre- venting homelessness. Research scientist Eric Latimer and his team at McGill University calcu- lated the costs of services for homeless people with mental illness in five Cana- dian cities, including ex- penses related to hospital visits, court appearances and other services. The team determined that an- nual costs averaged $59,000 per person in Canada's three largest cities. For 10 per cent of those studied, costs exceeded more than $93,000. This is one data point in a sea of budgeted and soci- etal costs of homelessness adding up to billions of dol- lars spent. And yet people remain unhoused, with as many as 235,000 people in Canada experiencing homelessness in any given year. How can we afford not to invest in a different approach? WAYS FORWARD What if we treated homelessness like a pan- demic? We would invest in preventing it and ensure that those who are un- housed have timely access to affordable housing and the support services they need to stay housed. If we are to learn any- thing from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that preven- tion is key and homeless- ness is not something we can continue to ignore by pushing it out of sight. CO- VID-19 can be a reset, a cat- alyst to invest and double down on creating a society without homelessness. We need a nationwide, fully resourced effort. We can help end homelessness by choosing to shift our in- dividual and collective fo- cus to support affordable housing, support services and prevention through voting, public funding and opening our minds and hearts. Sarah Tranum, Associ- ate Professor, Social In- novation Design, Faculty of Design, OCAD Universi- ty OPINION Continued from page 19 SUPPORTS NEEDED TO STAY HOUSED Metroland graphic ODSP housing allowance $497/month Ontario Works $390/month The average cost of a studio apartment in Toronto $1,211 The average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto $1,431 Ontario's minimum wage, as of November, is $14.35/hour After taxes, that's $1,955/month By the numBers DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Sarah Tranum does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.