Ending homelessness in a decade is doable, but all levels of government need to chip in, says housing advocate

$30 billion, the most the federal government has ever invested in homelessness. We are laying out a path to end homelessness within the next decade. Surrounded by residents of a seniors living campus in the west end of St. John's, Federal Minister Joanne Thompson outlines the finer details of how this year's federal budget is the beginning of a strategy to end homelessness across Canada in just 10 years. You know, once you begin to roll out. Those truly integrated supports. You start to turn the corner and people receive the comprehensive care that they need in that moment. And then you start to very quickly see results. The budget earmarks almost $30 billion, taking a multi-faceted approach, including goals to address veteran homelessness, renewing the Canadian housing benefit for low-income earners, building more supportive and transitional housing, and providing integrated health, mental health, and addiction support. In September. 542 people experienced homelessness in St. John's. One advocacy group says the number was well over 1,500 last year. The executive director of End Homelessness St. John's is optimistic about Ottawa's plan, but says it requires all levels of government. The federal government has made it clear that the provinces and territories need to sign on to work to get this. There's not going to be investments in provinces where the province itself doesn't sign on. So this actually does hinge very much on our provincial government signing on to support, you know, a ten-year strategy around housing homelessness And Homelessness St. John's spearheaded its own strategy by opening a transitional housing facility in St. John's with funding from the previous Liberal Provincial Government. The freshly elected PC government put a stop to those plans, making the decision to shut down the facility earlier this year and follow a new path forward through replacement housing contracts with Stella Circle and Benset Services. However, Doug Pawson says the federal government is on the right track. The model that we built through Horizons Integrated Health. We had a health clinic on site and wraparound support. So it's great to see the federal government take the lead on that. And we hope the provincial government will follow suit with future investments. In order for the federal government's plan to work, Pawson says the province needs a housing and homelessness strategy first, something he says he's been advocating for for years. Abby Cole, CBC News, St. John's.