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FAQ

I need emergency, transitional, affordable or permanent housing. Where do I go?
Homeward Trust Edmonton does not own or operate any housing units, however it is connected to many community agencies who can provide .

Where are the shelters in Edmonton?
The shelters tend to be in the Downtown area of Edmonton. These serve men, youth, women, women with children. Go to our Emergency Information page for a list of Shelters.

Who are the homeless in Edmonton?
The homeless include men, women, children, youth, seniors, people with disabilities and families. A Count of Homeless Persons in Edmonton October 2008 concluded:

As in the 2006 Count of Homeless Persons there is an increase in the number of homeless people in Edmonton. A total of 3079 people were counted in 2008. This reflects an increase of 18% or 461 people in the total number of homeless counted. The number of absolute homeless increased by almost 5% or 88 to 1862 and the number of sheltered homeless increased by approximately 44% or 373 to 1217;
In terms of gender, 2124 or (69%) of homeless individuals were observed to be male and 23%, or 702 were female. Of the remaining 253 or 8%, 245 were children and caregivers in families whose gender was not observed. The relative proportion of the number of men to women is higher than the 2006 count results; in total, there was an increase of 304 males and 94 females;
The Count recorded a significant decrease in the number of turnaways in 2008. Only 52 people were turned away as compared to 256 in 2006. In addition, the number discharged with no home to return to dropped to 72 from the previous count of 113. Turnaways are not included in the homeless tally. There were no turnaways from housing providers;
There was a significant increase in the number of families enumerated in 2008 as compared to 2006 (133 compared to 79). This represents an 87% increase (34) in the number of Absolute Homeless Families; a 50% increase (20) in the number of Sheltered Homeless Families. This can be attributed to a number of factors including improvements in the survey forms, which clarified the definition of dependants, caregivers, and their housing status, as well as an increase in the number of spaces available for women and children i.e. La Salle and Wings of Providence;
There are 125 children living on the street;
There was an increase in the number of shelter spaces available from 2006, of those available spaces, a large number are reserved for women and children, this is reflected in the increase in the number of homeless families;
The majority of the 3079 total homeless figure is single aboriginal men between the ages of 31-54;
The numbers reflect an increase in the number of children, and seniors over 65 yrs of age living on the street.

What is Emergency housing?
Emergency housing is intended to provide safe, healthy, overnight shelter for individuals who have nowhere else to go.

What is Transitional housing?
Transitional housing provides a secure, healthy living environment where the person or family can receive assistance, counseling and/or treatment and practice life skills, which have the potential to lead to independent living. There is greater potential for success if the person/s has stable living arrangements while counseling/treatment is undertaken.

What is Long-term supportive housing?
Long-term supportive housing typically provides permanent accommodation with a support component that enables residents to live as independently as possible. In some instances, resident needs can be adequately met if the housing facility adopts a supportive management model. Essentially this means that the live-in building manager establishes a relationship with tenants such that external support services can be contacted when a resident appears to be encountering difficulty. At the other end of the spectrum, some people require a facility with on-site support 24-7.

What is social housing?
Social housing units are rental units where the rent is geared to the income of the residents. They may be owned by either a not-for-profit or public agency or alternately there may be a subsidy provided to the private sector owner to off set the market rental rates.

What is affordable housing?
Affordable housing refers to lower than average, market owned or rented housing, provided to households who earn less than the median income and spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Neither the owner or renter receives ongoing government subsidies.

What can I do to help?
Homeward Trust Edmonton is a coalition of different levels of government, business and not for profit organizations that have joined together to identify the housing priorities of Edmontonians and plan strategies to fill these needs.

Homeward Trust Edmonton is not a direct service agency, however it is connected to many who provide direct service.

Homeward Trust Edmonton initiatives focus on building a better awareness of the issues and developing the information-base to support better social and community decision-making. Homeward Trust Edmonton’s projects are implemented through its very small staff, active volunteers, community organizations staff and consultants hired as the project requires.

We encourage anyone interested in getting involved to contact us at:

6th Floor, 10242-105 Street
Edmonton, AB
T5J 3L5
780.496.2630

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