Belleville’s Homelessness Task Force is emphasizing a solution of housing with expanded emergency and healthcare supports to address the homelessness crisis in the city.
A 37-page homelessness report was circulated by the city Monday as a result of months of collaboration and consultation on issues affecting the homelessness population.
The task force identified five core issues driving the concerns, including a lack of supportive and transitional housing, homelessness as a health and systems issue, encampments as indicators of system gaps, need for low-barrier services, and unsustainable municipal funding and governance.
Supportive and transitional housing was identified as a pressing need with only 21 beds available in local emergency shelters, and nearly 250 people listed as needing shelter, along with unreliable government funding for housing supports.
In response to these challenges, the Task Force developed a 10-point call-to-action that balances immediate municipal measures with long-term systemic reforms, including accelrating housing supports, enhancing and building upon the HART Hub model and strengthening housing retention, among other goals.
