'Large investments' needed to stem rising homelessness, says Moncton shelter leader

The executive director of one of Moncton's four shelters says the number of people becoming homeless continues to outpace those being housed. 

Marc Belliveau with Harvest House said 17 people moved into housing last month, while 45 others became homeless. 

"We're doing the right processes, we're doing the right investments," Belliveau told Moncton council on Monday in response to a question about government spending on service and affordable housing programs like Rising Tide.

"But since the pandemic, there are much more people that are accessing our services rather than graduating out. And it's something that we're seeing month after month."

Changing that will require more money, he said.

"What we really need is large investments that we've never seen before to get caught up to where we need to go. We are still years behind the investments we need within this sector."

Belliveau's comments came as the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee, which includes 30 organizations with a role in addressing homelessness, offered an update to city council. 

Andrea Anne, the committee's coordinator, said they had just completed another point-in-time count and results should be ready in February. The count carried out Nov. 20-21 will provide a snapshot of how many people are homeless, where they're from, and their background.

There were 59 people who answered the survey in the Moncton area in 2016. Anne said that climbed to 337 in 2023, a figure she expects will be surpassed by the count last month. The survey only accounts for people who are located by those carrying out the count, and who agree to answer the questions. 

While the data wasn't available Monday, the committee members were asked to provide an approximate number of people who are homeless in the city. 

Louise Marchand said the figure is about 550, noting it's not an exhaustive list. Marchand helped carry out the count and works for the Human Development Council, which posts monthly statistics about homelessness in the province's three cities. 

Determining how many people are homeless depends on the definition used. People sleeping on someone's couch may not show up in figures tracking those staying in emergency shelters, for example.

Anne spoke about seeing a repeated response in the count's survey answers. 

"Rent too high, not enough money," she said. "I just stopped reading those questions, 'cause it got a little heartfelt."

Belliveau echoed that.

"We are seeing seniors who can no longer afford to stay in apartments they've been for 10, 15, 20 years. Those are some of the most heartbreaking situations we see, because they end up in the shelter where they should never enter in the first place."

Coun. Dave Steeves noted it was expected to be frigid overnight, asking if Belliveau was confident they would avoid another scramble to prepare winter shelter beds like in past years. 

"I would say we feel very confident," Belliveau said.

He said plans were in place months before the Dec. 1 start date for increased capacity. 

"We started filling beds in November even before the additional funding kicked in. We were putting people on couches and cots to get them out of the cold."

He said he's not confident about estimating how many people may still need a bed, which is what organizations are trying to address now.