Town has no reliable count of its homeless residents: Redekop

Mayor Wayne Redekop said the biggest gap in the town’s response to homelessness is not knowing how many residents are homeless, where they are staying or what support they need.

Redekop spoke to Fort Erie Radio ahead of a roundtable the town is hosting Monday at the request of Casa El Norte, a Fort Erie non-profit studying homelessness in town.

The mayor said the town responds to homelessness case by case, based on what residents report.

“We hear from residents about somebody camping out here or there, and so we try to respond to those specific needs, but one of the gaps is getting a better understanding of where these individuals are, what their circumstances are, what kind of support they need in order to get into a more stable housing situation,” said Redekop.

Brock University researcher Dr. Joanne Haritz approached Redekop with Casa El Norte about hosting the rouundtable under a grant from the Niagara Community Foundation, and he agreed.

“That’s a topic of interest to us,” he said. “We’ve been looking at issues relative to affordability of housing, and also concerned about those who are underhoused or don’t have housing at all.”

Redekop said he expected participants to compare Fort Erie’s challenges with those in other municipalities and identify gaps in housing and support services.

Groups would also be asked for recommendations on how a solution for Fort Erie could be crafted, and how it would fit with work already underway across Niagara.

Invitations went out to multiple non-profits that work in housing and homelessness support in Niagara.

Dr. Haritz will compile the findings into a report, which will be presented to town council.

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