Thank you for that question.
I'll start with accessibility. Shelters are grassroots movements. They started 30 to 40 years ago. Often it was groups of women who came together in communities and found houses that were older and affordable, and that often were not chosen with accessibility in mind. They were chosen with cost and sustainability in mind. Many shelters are still in those older homes or just in the process of trying to upgrade. Trying to build shelters or convert shelters to make them more accessible is tricky.
I think we've been in a process for a number of years where we've been trying to build purpose-built shelters that meet those accessibility needs. In terms of accessibility, I think we have a long way to go as a sector to be able to create full accessibility for everyone who needs our services. That does mean that it makes it harder for folks who have those accessibility needs.
In terms of larger families, it's a similar story. All the shelters are not necessarily purpose-built. It does make it harder for larger families with five or six kids to find a place that can accommodate them all. It's not easy for moms to be in a space, often one bedroom or sometimes two, with five, six, seven or eight children. It's certainly a challenge.
It makes it all the more important for us to find ways to make that pathway to safe, affordable and permanent housing easier and faster for the folks we serve.