Local housing professionals share top priorities for addressing homelessness

(Photo by BD)

More rent-geared-to-income housing. Higher social assistance rates. More supportive housing.

Those were the top three priorities identified by professionals working in Peterborough’s homelessness sector in a survey conducted by the Research for Social Change Lab in December 2022.

The goal of our survey was simple: to ask sector professionals what they thought were the most important actions to take to address homelessness locally.

“We need to hear the expertise of local service providers,” said Mary Anne Martin, the lead researcher on the project. “I’m grateful that so many people took the time to share their perspectives through the survey. There is obviously a lot of passion and desire to create a more effective system.” 

Respondents were asked to choose their top priorities from a list of 30 options. To be eligible, respondents had to be over the age of 18 and a current or recent employee at a local organization that works with homeless or housing-insecure people or with the housing and homelessness system. The survey was completed by 108 people, 98 of whom met the eligibility criteria and were included in our analysis.

You can read the full results of the survey in this report.

Top six priorities to address homelessness, according to sector professionals

According to the Lab’s analysis of the survey results, the following are the top six actions local housing and homelessness sector professionals feel need to be prioritized in Peterborough:

1. More rent-geared-to-income units or rent supplements/subsidies

2. Advocacy for higher OW and ODSP rates

3. More supportive housing for people with high acuity needs

4. Support for people living in public parks

5. More accommodating shelter spaces for people with various needs

6. Reframing housing as a human right

A community discussion on how to better serve people experiencing homelessness

This survey is part of the Research for Social Change Lab’s wider review of Peterborough’s homelessness system.

In addition to the survey, we conducted 35 in-depth interviews with people working in the sector and 48 in-depth interviews with people experiencing homelessness. Our goal is to foster frank and inclusive conversations around what’s working, what’s not, and what can be improved in Peterborough’s homelessness system.

This work is supported by Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy and United Way Peterborough & District. To learn more, visit the project page.