Human Resources committee  Thank you very much, and thanks for the introduction. I am the chief executive officer for Homeward Trust. We are a community-based organization utilizing a system-planning approach to ending homelessness in our community of Edmonton. We are the local entity supporting the imple

Human Resources committee  For our effort, I think it would have a very negative impact. I would say that Reaching Home needs to be understood, and our local efforts generally, because we certainly administer investments in homelessness by other orders of government. The important underlying focus is that

Human Resources committee  Through Reaching Home, Homeward Trust received about $6.4 million through our entity commitment, as well as indigenous funding of $1.1 million. Those are rounded numbers.

Human Resources committee  No, sorry; that was out of the initial announcement of the $157-million Reaching Home. The other funding for Homeward Trust directly has not as yet been cascaded through the programs that are focused on homelessness in our community.

Human Resources committee  Yes. It certainly has some risk. Good plans and good scenario planning can't happen in a bubble. That's the risk.

Human Resources committee  We've taken a bit of a different approach, not through acquisition but through head-leasing and negotiating with a hotel operator. We have a couple of other permanent supportive housing projects in play. We're still hoping to secure capital through the CMHC grant. We've taken t

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. We really do need longer-term planning when it comes to our assets and to homes and housing. We are building housing for people, not just temporary transitional spaces. It ensures that we can plan ahead. That's achieved through acquisition, certainly thoughtfully; whe

Human Resources committee  It would be what we look to in terms of turning the lights on and in terms of capital and operating capital. Then we can bring supports to the individuals as they need in order to ensure they have the greatest opportunity for success.

Human Resources committee  I think when we talk about organizations, there are certainly different types of organizations that fulfill different roles in both responding to a crisis and maintaining a focus on long-term solutions. While both are needed, if they're not coordinated, we just continue to do wha

Human Resources committee  In Edmonton, we simply do not have the square footage to allow for and support a response with the appropriate distancing, should any of our shelters have to close in response to a pandemic. So there is definitely a priority, real-time focus on space, and we need to be able to mo

Human Resources committee  We have supported, certainly within the Canadian Alliance strategy, the value of a livable income. I know there's a lot of analysis and there are more discussions to be had about that. The pandemic really is a convergence of different groups and different levels of need. As much

Human Resources committee  In terms of the individuals we are currently seeing, such as the increased number of people living rough, they are many of our most vulnerable individuals. They have often complex needs. They are requiring a high level of support. As our most vulnerable community members, they ha

Human Resources committee  You know, the national housing strategy has some really important moves forward. It was a significant step forward for our country to have such a coordinated strategy that was absent for so long. I would really underscore that we need to do things faster, providing housing in a w

Human Resources committee  That's an interesting question, because I have worked closely with the department on that through the data committee that we participate in. There will be a data gap, but we also have communities that have been working and implementing their outreach through a registry and a by

Human Resources committee  Certainly I think we need a serious look at an emergency response fund that some provinces have had, as well as an expansion of accessibility to what exists now. Sometimes the thresholds for accessing emergency dollars are very high. We actually spend a lot of time, money and res