Good news! The Out of the Cold shelter, which was set to close at the end of April, will be able to stay open until June 30th, thanks to some federal funding and a landlord willing to extend the lease until then. Of course Out of the Cold will face the same problem again come July. We speak with Out of the Cold’s executive director Michelle Mallette about what needs to happen.
Coverdale Courtwork Society has announced that it will no longer be able to pay for hotel rooms for criminalized women and trans individuals who are exiting jails or who face homelessness for other reasons. That makes Coverdale yet another NGO which is no longer able to provide this crucial service to the population it serves. Just two days ago we reported that economic realities and a lack of provincial support were forcing Adsum for Women and Children to make a similar decision.
Over the last three months or so Adsum for Women and Children has spent some $50,000 on hotel rooms for people needing emergency shelter. That’s something the organization can no longer sustain, at least not at the current rate, says Sheri Lecker, Adsum’s executive director.
Kendall Worth reports that a lack of affordable housing is increasingly becoming a topic of conversation and a big problem in his community.
This weekend’s video is a short but powerful one, a conversation with Andrew, one of the folks living in a one-person crisis shelter constructed by Halifax Mutual Aid.
In March several outreach workers did a rough sleeping survey in urban HRM. We speak with outreach worker Eric Jonsson about what the numbers tell us.
That ‘historic’ increase in income assistance really doesn’t amount to much, write journalists Kendall Worth and Robert Devet. Here’s why.
“Over the last year I watched my mom trying to escape Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), and learned how the pandemic has increased the already substantial barriers for women trying to navigate the systems and resources.”
Making involuntary movements, fidgeting, and talking to yourself are the kinds of things that draw the public’s attention, and next thing you know there’s police or security asking you to leave, writes Kendall Worth. That’s not fair.
Judy Haiven on her dear friend, the fierce activist Sharon Murphy, who passed away in late February.