Now I know a lot has happened, but I have been a bit busy. I promise to catch up on news that I've been away for, such as the Airliner Hotel, Rosedale and NIMBY, and more,but I wanted to write this article right now to get it out there since the news is still current.
An ongoing issue with Calgary Housing has been the constant need of someone to prove they need assistance. Prove their poverty. This isn't unique to Calgary Housing, as we've heard about in the Federal Election tales about a war vet having to literally prove he lost his leg to Veteran's Affairs. Annually, as though in the past year his leg might have magically grown back.
Now, that's Veterans Affairs. But if he lives in social housing, then he would also have to prove himself to his housing agency as well. If one organization can mitigate this, they should, and really every organization should, so I certainly applaud City Council for introducing Single Entry so persons in housing don't have to constantly prove their poverty.
However, there are going to be some hurdles for Calgary Housing to go through first. Namely, while certainly not rampant in the system, there has been a history of a tiny handful of High-Income earners living in Calgary Housing. Now, my own personal opinion, but I really don't mind, provided the individuals and families were low-income when they moved in initially. After all, without Calgary Housing, these individuals and families would probably not have been able to get out of poverty. It's a sign that Calgary Housing is doing what it's should do. End Poverty, not merely manage it. And I also believe it's important that Calgary Housing be a permanent option for those who want it. To force them out of their housing just because they've become successful is discrimination based on class. And if I oppose discrimination based on class when it's used against the poor, I feel obliged to take the same stand when it's used against the middle and upper classes.
But that's my view. Not everyone agrees, and understandably so. It does put a burden on housing availability funded by public interests - namely tax dollars. So I would understand why others disagree with me on this. The point is, that without regular examinations onto income levels, it will be more difficult to see if Calgary Housing is helping people. And it also feeds ammunition to those who criticize Calgary Housing for the High-Income earners.
I mention this, because it is fair game. While I have my explanations to justify it, I know people will disagree with me on it, and I don't want to hide that from them. It is something that will have to be dealt with somehow, and I won't sweep that possibility under the rug or ignore it like the proverbial elephant in the room. It is certainly something Council needs to prepare to deal with, either actively or strictly in a Public Relations sense.
Another issue is that streamlining intakes generally adds bureaucracy, not lessens it. And while much of the bureaucracy is not taxpayer funded - rather operated through non-profit agencies - this layer possibly would be taxpayer funded, which would add further fuel possible criticisms.
Finally, I would imagine the intake process would become that much more rigorous to compensate for the lack of routine intake processes happening. This is something that should have happened a long time ago, but will be even doubly of importance now. Advocates or Mental Health Workers to help people going through the intake process debrief afterwards. This should have been implemented long ago for every time someone has to prove their situation, but I think now is the perfect time to implement this.
Of course, this is all done without hearing exactly how the City intends to implement streamlining access to Calgary Housing. Maybe they will deal with much of these issues. Maybe they'll find a way to do it that saves tax dollars or uses them more wisely. Maybe it will be a complete gong-show. But it is still something I hope they keep in mind while undergoing this process if they want to make it successful.
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