Introduction
In 2020, our city was the first in Canada to declare a housing and homelessness emergency. It has only gotten worse.
There are 3000 homeless people in Ottawa now, with 550 sleeping fully in the streets. It is impossible to ignore, and a glaring and uncomfortable indicator of the larger problems in our city - worsening affordability and housing crises, our failed strategies of supporting the addicted and mentally ill, and the redevelopment of what affordable housing we had.
Homeless shelters have been far over capacity since 2023. People have to be turned away every night, and inside, many sleep on chairs or the floor. There are whole families in these shelters, because refugees have nowhere else to go upon arrival.
This is lowering the quality of life for everyone, and the situation will continue to worsen if we don't make direct efforts to improve it.
What is my goal with this?
I find that there is little sympathy for the homeless, because of how this crisis has been decreasing the quality of life for everyone. There is distrust, or maybe even fear, of the homeless population.
Less people seem to want to actually help these people, and there is instead a focus on essentially "covering up the problem". Removing something uncomfortable to confront from the public eye by removing encampments and installing anti-homeless architecture, forcing these people further and further away from the services they need.
For change to actually happen, for homelessness in Ottawa to be reduced and prevented long-term, the majority population's support has to be obtained.
That is why I have created this site. I hope to explain the reality of the situation, and hopefully convince people to donate to any one of the organisations that can help with this situation.
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