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City of Red Deer releases report on homeless initiatives

Feb 20, 2018 | 12:39 PM

A new report from The City of Red Deer shines a light on Red Deer’s homeless population and what people without shelter go through on a daily basis.

From Homeless to Housed: 2016/2017 Annual Report on Red Deer’s Homelessness Initiatives, shows 261 individuals between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 were newly housed or continued to be supported by provincial Outreach and Support Services (OSSI). Just under two-thirds are Caucasian, while 29.5 per cent are Aboriginal. About one-third are female.

From April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, another 175 were newly housed or continued to be supported by federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) funding.

“Our community system matches the individual with the right one of a dozen housing programs based on need, and we support them with help for mental health, domestic violence, addictions, to increase their likelihood of success,” said Tricia Hercina, Acting Social Planning Manager with The City of Red Deer.