Homelessness (Image Credit: ID 21850832 © Toniguetta | Dreamstime.com)

By Mark Jones

Op-Ed

The homeless are not “Those People”

Feb 17, 2026 | 3:44 PM

“Residents of Red Deer have been privy to numerous conversations about the state of homelessness right now, especially with the upcoming City Council vote on whether to rezone the property at 7740 40 Avenue for Project Nexus. There are terms of generalisation – such as “them” and “those people” – being bandied about in a lot of these debates, and I’d like specifically to address that.

When we say “those people” in reference to our homeless neighbours, we are talking about human beings.

We are talking about the senior who worked for 40 years and can no longer afford rent. The woman who cleans offices all night and sleeps in her car. The man who had a stroke, lost his job, and ran out of savings. Families doing everything right — and still falling through the cracks.

And no, they are not just the people you may see struggling publicly with addiction or mental illness. Those visible crises do not define homelessness. Many people experiencing homelessness are working, caring for children, managing health conditions, or simply trying to survive a housing market they can no longer afford.

At the same time, we should be honest about another factor that often goes unaddressed: untreated childhood trauma. Many adults who experience homelessness endured abuse, neglect, instability, or time in foster care when they were young. Trauma does not disappear with age. Without access to early intervention and long-term mental health support, it can affect education, employment, relationships, and stability for decades. When trauma goes untreated, it can increase vulnerability to both addiction and housing instability. That is not a moral failing — it is a public health failure.

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Homelessness is not a personality flaw. It is not a character defect, and it is not synonymous with addiction.

The narrative that reduces people to “addicts” is convenient because it allows society to look away. The truth is harder: people are homeless because housing is unaffordable, wages are too low, safety nets are too slow or non-existent, and trauma and health needs often go untreated. One illness. One eviction. One rent hike. That’s all it takes.

If addiction were the primary cause, homelessness would look the same everywhere. It doesn’t. It rises where rents rise and where affordable housing disappears.

Calling people “those people” is how we excuse inaction. It creates distance. It allows us to believe this couldn’t happen to us or someone we love.

But, homelessness does not discriminate. It does not care how hard someone worked or what they once earned. It can arrive quietly and quickly.

These are our neighbours, our elders, our workers. They deserve housing, dignity, prevention, and trauma-informed solutions — not labels that erase their humanity.

The question isn’t whether “those people” deserve help. The question is whether we are willing to admit they are people at all — and act like it.”

Sincerely,

Mark Jones, resident of Red Deer.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The views expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of rdnewsNOW or Pattison Media. Column/op-ed suggestions and letters to the editor can be sent to news@rdnewsNOW.com.