Hope for the homeless
Posted Aug 21, 2014 01:42:58 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Over the past few weeks the issue of how to help the homeless in Waterloo Region has been in the limelight.
With four sites dropping out of the Out of the Cold program, many are concerned the region’s most vulnerable will have nowhere to go.
CEO of YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo, Elizabeth Clarke says this isn’t the case.
According to Clarke, in 2013 Out of the Cold provided only 11% of the beds offered in the region, meaning there are still numerous services for the homeless to benefit from.
She tells 570 News the shelters provided by the region are big enough to help those in need and offer a permanent way for people to stay off the streets.
“The people who are using Out of the Cold are coming back year after year after year, and they’re being well served there but they are not leaving the system, and that’s something that we heard from some of the churches when they made the decision to step aside, they felt that they were possibly perpetuating people’s homelessness.”
Clarke says Out of the Cold is an overnight service and is very different from the regional shelters. She says the other shelters provide the addiction counselling and housing help that their guests need.
