In Lethbridge, the reasons that families and individuals experience homelessness are as diverse as the people themselves. Each person’s reason for living in a shelter or on the street is their own personal story. Homelessness is a very complex issue that affects the community from an economic and a social perspective.

While the factors that lead someone into homelessness are anything but simple, some of the major root causes of homelessness in Lethbridge include at least one of the following :

• the rising costs of housing
• poverty and the lack of affordable housing: current levels of housing costs, coupled with low-wage jobs can result in even the working poor being forced  out of their homes 
• divorce, domestic violence and lack of family support
• broken relationships
• chronic health problems or physical disabilities
• sudden job loss due to injury or illness
• mental illness
• drug, alcohol and gambling addictions
• natural disasters
  
  (Community Housing Plan, 2002)

Keep in mind, that many people’s experience often includes more than one root cause, and in many cases, several.

Lack of Affordable Housing and Housing Support Services
'A lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs are the primary causes of homelessness. The growing gap between the number of affordable housing units and the number of people needing them has created a housing crisis for poor people.' (National Coalition for the Homeless)

In Lethbridge, people experience many barriers to housing, the main one being the lack of available safe and affordable housing stock.  Currently, Lethbridge is experiencing a less than 0.1% vacancy rate (CMHC, 2006). This low rate is due to many reasons.  They include:

• the current economic boom in Alberta
• the migration of people searching for work
• the backlog of housing construction
• the lack of multi-family housing construction

Other barriers include a person simply not having the funds required for the damage deposit, first month’s rent and utility start up costs. Discrimination is also a barrier people encounter in finding appropriate housing (Last on the List, 2001).

Did you know …

• The current waiting lists for subsidized housing (Lethbridge Housing Authority and Treaty 7 Housing) indicate mounting pressure for people to access this essential service.
• Many landlord tenant conflict results in eviction.  
• Outreach support services for people retaining housing are required to sustain secure housing.

Insufficient Income/Poverty
Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care and education. This means that difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income that must be given up.

Did you know …

• Currently over 1/3 of the population in Lethbridge receives an income less than what has been determined as a living wage (Working Poor or Making a Living? The reality of low wages in Alberta, 2006).
• Current low-income wages have put home ownership and market rental housing out of reach for many people.

Health and Support Services
Our experience with people living with homelessness in Lethbridge compares to other communities in the following ways:

• Up to 50% of homeless people suffer from a substance use problem. Substance use is generally the end result of other life issues people encounter, including other root causes such as spousal abuse, broken relationships, mental illness and physical disabilities.
• People living with homelessness and in emergency shelters may also be exposed to more viruses and diseases. This is due to their proximity living with others in smaller spaces or on the street.

• A national study in the US indicated that 13 percent of homeless individuals became homeless due to health problems.
• Homeless individuals are 10-15 times more likely to suffer from gangrene, gout and ulcerations resulting in amputation; 2-3 times more likely to suffer from gastro-intestinal disorders; and 2-4 times more prone to hypertension.
• 20-25 percent of homeless people suffer from serious mental illness.
• Some mentally ill people are discharged from hospitals to the streets. Nevertheless, only 5-7 percent of homeless people with mental illness need to be institutionalized.  As many as 95 percent could live in community settings if appropriate supportive services and housing were available.
• Some homeless people also suffer from AIDS or are HIV-positive.

(Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, Ohio)

The solution is, quite simply, more homes and more supports in place to help people settle into adequate, permanent housing.  This, along with appropriate non-housing forms of assistance, can help people remain in their housing and participate fully and productively in their communities.