Homelessness at a Tipping Point

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 

                                             Matthew 25: 34-36 NRSVue

It has been cold enough in our part of southern Ontario that there is enough ice for skating on sites designated by the city that are along the Bay of Quinte. Ruth is a happy skater. It's also frosty enough that we've bundled up for our walks, complete with snow pants and heavier mittens because even a slight breeze can be bone-chilling. We love being outdoors, even in this weather, and we would be happy if it persisted for a few weeks. Winter should be winter. Amen. 

We can't imagine, though, having no option other than "living rough" in this weather, or being forced into a shelter or warming centre, perhaps couch-surfing with a friend. Yet we've learned through a recent survey by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario that this is the reality for at least 81,000 people in Ontario, a 25% increase since 2022. It may be a lot more because the unhoused or homeless are a challenge to count when they don't have a fixed address and tend to move around alot. According to a CBC piece: 

There are now 25 per cent more people living in shelters or on the streets compared to two years ago, the report found. AMO policy director Lindsay Jones said they knew the problem was widespread, but still found the total number of homeless people to be "staggering." 

"To put the numbers in context, that's about the same size as the city of Peterborough," she said in an interview."Imagine everyone in Peterborough being homeless or everybody in Sault Ste. Marie being homeless, that's the scale of what we're talking about."

To bring this even closer to home, the cities of Trenton and Belleville combined (not the regional municipalities) are between 85 and 90 thousand. 

When we ramble about locally we see tents and encampments in places they didn't exist when we moved here 11 1/2 years ago. There are regularly tents and shanties up against Bridge St. UC in downtown Belleville, something that was unimaginable until the pandemic hit. There are now about 1,400 encampments in and around communities across the province.

Municipalitiies are struggling to respond and feel that other levels of government are deaf to their requests for funding. Ontario premier Doug Ford's response is that these people should get jobs when the reality is that even those who have work can't find affordable housing. His government introduced legislation to impose fines of up to $10,000 on tresspassers who have nothing. It is so absurd it should be laughable but this seems to be the Dougie way.  

We can't turn away from what municipalities are claiming is a tipping point. This can't be "us and them" and we can't pretend we don't know -- just ask Jesus.