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M.P. Mike Bossio Says Survey Released on Homelessness in Hastings County Shows the Need for Affordable Housing

A new survey has been released that details homelessness in Hastings County.

The survey was done in Bancroft, Belleville, Quinte West and Madoc Village. Mike Bossio, M.P. for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, says Belleville is the third ranked city in Canada when it comes to a shortage of affordable housing.

211 individuals were surveyed, including 15 families. 71-percent were “provisionally accommodated” meaning they’re staying with someone temporarily or live from house-to-house. 14-percent of the 211 surveyed were unsheltered.

65-percent of the people surveyed were men, with 32-percent being women. Bossio says that shelters are needed that are separate for men and woman. “We just need more housing period,” he says.

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The majority of the people surveyed say they’ve been homeless for the past 2 to 5 months. Bossio says that transitional housing is a need for people trying to get their life back together. “They’re overcoming different life changes that are short term or long term that we need to help them transition through,” he says. 25-percent said they’ve been homeless for a year or more.

“The Federal government is not building these houses, we need individuals to build them,” Bossio says. That’s why he’s planning on having workshops throughout the riding over the next couple of months. He wants to explain to people how to apply for funding to have affordable housing built. “We desperately need to get these homes built,” Bossio says.

The survey found that 95-percent of people that are homeless want to find permanent housing. They say in the survey that affordability and availability of housing is the primary barrier that people have experienced.

The Province plans to do this survey every two years.

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