Certainly. First I would like to echo Rene's comment by thanking you for being here. There's a lot of criticism sometimes that so many reports have been written about poverty and not much action follows. I actually appreciate every standing committee coming to Halifax, because it is sometimes important to talk about an issue again and again, and I see that we are making some inroads. The subject of poverty is all of a sudden on every agenda. If you look to the United States, you see that all of a sudden mayors and politicians are being elected on the basis of their poverty and homelessness agendas. This is a huge success. I really would like to thank each one of you for coming here.
My name is Claudia Jahn. I'm the program director of Community Action on Homelessness here in Halifax. We administer and share a delivery model with Service Canada, the homelessness partnering strategy.
You are here to examine the federal contribution on poverty in the country. I can speak for my area of expertise, which is homelessness and the homelessness partnering strategy, which is actually working very well. I must say there are lots of compliments for this program. For the last ten years it has been not only the only program in the country that addresses specifically homelessness, but it is distributed in consultation with the community and it's praised for its innovative model.
Behind every successful program are people. The people in Ottawa and here at the local level, all Service Canada representatives, are working very hard to keep this program alive and to keep it going. Everybody knows that to make it successful, time is of the essence. Everybody knows that individuals are affected by this program. That is why everybody feels very passionate and is working hard to make it work.
There are some points of criticism in regard to the program. One of them is the short-term nature of it, which makes strategic planning impossible. Here in Halifax we cannot plan for the next two years. Since the province is not at the table with us in regard to homelessness, it is impossible for a non-profit organization to plan for the future.
The existing provincial bilateral affordable rental agreement doesn't go deep enough to really address the needs of the most vulnerable population, the people who are depending on social assistance or low-income wages. The provincial program is intended for market rents, which are not attainable for the population we are talking about. It's crucial for us that the federal government stay involved and take the leadership on the homelessness issue.
I'm hoping the federal government can lead the negotiation with the province and encourage all the partners to come on board and solve this problem in partnership. Moreover, our organization looks into the needs of the people living in shelters, which we have currently done by interviewing 158 individuals in the shelter and service system. We identified that there are so many needs that it's really a complex need, and other departments have to come on board. It is not only the Department of Community Services that has to address the issue, but the Departments of Health, Justice, and other sectors as well.
As Rene stated before, poverty is created and maintained by policy and by programs. We see certainly that different areas are affected. Adequate income, adequate housing, and adequate support: these are for us the solution to addressing homelessness on a national level. For my area, for Community Action on Homelessness, it is therefore important to create suitable housing for everyone in need here in the city, providing support systems.
Probably 85% of individuals living in the shelter system suffer from mental health issues. So there is a high need for support services and different degrees of support services.
Coming back to the homelessness partnering strategy, I would like to add, as I mentioned before, that the short-term nature of the program has to be looked at. The allocated funds are certainly not enough. We received just over $3 million over two years. It has been the same amount for the last 10 years. And the administrative burden on the non-profits to apply to and report on this program are just too high.
Thank you very much.