By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

citizens deserve urgency, chamber says

Red Deer Chamber to create Task Force on Homelessness

Mar 14, 2023 | 2:08 PM

A new Task Force on Homelessness is being spearheaded by the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce.

The word comes just days after The City of Red Deer revealed statistics from its 2022, Point in Time (PiT) Homeless Count.

The count shows 334 people experiencing homelessness, up alarmingly from the 144 counted in 2018.

rdnewsNOW will be hearing from the mayor of Red Deer on this issue later this week.

For now, Chamber CEO Scott Robinson says the organization is very concerned and disappointed, “with the effectiveness of the strategies currently in place.”

THIRD READING POSTPONED

Sylvan town council takes step forward in updating downtown development process

14h ago

two-vehicle collision

Highway 2 reopened after collision south of Ponoka

15h ago

Financial decision

Town of Innisfail to renovate Aquatic Centre rather than build new facility

20h ago

“Clearly our current strategies are not enough, and we need to elevate the urgency by which we get things done to reduce the number of citizens who are without a place to live. The growing number of people who are homeless is not sustainable and is impacting on our sense of pride, safety and attractiveness of our city to business and industry,” says Robinson.

“There are best practices and models for delivery that are successful in other parts of the world that we need to start implementing. We need to look at ways that our private sector can get more involved and bring their expertise and strategic thinking to the table. As a collaborative community we also need to ensure that governments at all levels are delivering on their promises of affordable housing and eliminating barriers to expediting these investments.”

Robinson says more will be shared about the task force and next steps in the coming weeks, but added that the clock is ticking.

“Time has run out to act with conviction, courage, and clarity,” he says. “Our community and citizens deserve that from our community leaders, and we are ready to bring the business community and the urgency required to the table.”

The Chamber clarifies that over the next 60 days, it will be reaching out to business and social agency partners to build the task force and establish a strategy to reverse the evident trends.

“Our Chamber is positioned to be the collaborative leader in connecting our business community, social agencies, and elected officials together, to find tangible progress on this complex issue,” says Matt Cassidy, Chamber board president.

“All businesses rely on the vibrancy of our community as they strive to be sustainable, innovative, or grow, and the results of the PiT report indicate that we need to do much more. This task force will help hold our leaders accountable for the actionable progress needed and engage one another effectively.”

More to come…