Will you help us fight for Recovery for All? Sign up now to join this urgent plan of action to include people experiencing homelessness in Canada’s recovery plan. Once you sign up, you will be prompted to share your support for this plan with The Prime Minister and your local Member of Parliament. We’ve done it because we feel strongly that no Canadian should be left behind.
Learn more about what Recovery for All stands for by watching this video:
Lockdown in Canada Began on March 18
As of writing this post, it’s been nearly three months since Canada began enforcing restrictions to halt the spread of COVID-19. Actually, it’s been 84 days — we counted.
That means 84 days since Health officials first urged us to stay in our homes. To work together to ensure our vulnerable family members were protected. To do our part in flattening the curve. To stop work that wasn’t essential and instead apply for emergency funds, deferred payments, and other relief available to us.
Our country is just now taking its first baby steps towards recovery.
2.94 Mill. Nights of Homelessness During COVID-19
As of June 2020, “Right to Housing” is now protected by Canadian legislation.
But what about the estimated 35,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night? Where did they turn? Who did they have to protect them? How could they stay safe and isolated? What relief was available to them?
At a rate of 35,000 individuals experiencing homelessness each night since lockdown, that’s the equivalent of 2,940,000 people experiencing one night of homelessness since March 18. That’s more than the population of Metro Vancouver.
We know that this is a daily reality for many individuals in our country. And unfortunately these numbers are set to continue growing without a change in the way our government responds to the issues of homelessness.
How Recovery for All Will Benefit All Canadians
Recovery for All is a grassroots movement initiated by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. They are calling for the Canadian government to include those experiencing homelessness in its recovery plan by following well-researched models of ending and preventing homelessness. Click here to read their 6-point plan for ensuring that everyone has an equitable recovery.
Homelessness occurs as the result of generations of public policy, systemic failures, and an inability or unwillingness to see homelessness as societal failure rather than individual responsibility. But that means we can do something about it.
We’ve often said that a critical step in ending homelessness is ensuring people experiencing homelessness have a voice and a seat at the table. This is a tangible way to make that happen. But we need your help.
Join Zero Ceiling in supporting this critical cause by signing up to Recovery for All’s email list or donate if you can.