In a report card of sorts council learned that 251 new housing units were developed, doors to the woman's transition home opened, and relationships with landlords have been forged.

531 people were housed in 306 households, more than half of which were seniors living on a fixed income and SHIA Research and Evaluation Chair Bob Campbell says those people are enjoying new found stability.  "That a fairly significant thing, and shows that when you put effort into it and make your first priority [housing the people] that you can do it.  It's a challenge in a community like Lethbridge, when our Vacancy rate is so [low] but, when we work with landlords and explain what we're doing we've made significant progress is housing the homeless."

Having already made such great strides, Campbell says SHIA's focus will now shift from immediately housing as many as they can to housing those who present more difficulty.  "That includes people who have mental illness, people with addictions, people living in extreme poverty, people with other health issues and those kinds of things.  Those are considered complex and sometimes they are more difficult to place.  But, they can be placed if they have the right supports in place, and that's what we'll be looking at."

While the sheer number of people provided housing in under a year has had a significant impact on the community, it's also played a large role in the reduction of services provided.  "When people get housed they begin to change... and have some stability in their lives.  They can start to eat properly, the kids can get to school, they can get to their doctors appointments, and service agencies can start to help them by looking for jobs.  People who have been dealing with addiction issues, for example, because they have a home are more inclined to start cleaning up their act a little bit.  They get help sometimes.  They aren't back on the street, they aren't getting thrown in jail again, they aren't showing up in emergency, and that's a very positive aspect of the program."

The reduction in services provided has reduced the costs as well.  Campell says prior to being placed in permanent housing it costs about $134,000 to support 1 homeless person, and that those costs have been reduced to about $27,000 a year after being provided housing.  "These are averages.  If you take the costs for someone who is on the street or staying at the shelter, the number of times they are picked up by police, the number of times they show up in the emergency room and that averages out to $134,000.  Once they are in a home or apartment that number drops significantly.  We are still getting them to their services, getting them help.  And eventually some of those people will be totally self-reliant.  They'll have a job or whatever, and it won't cost them nearly as much.  It's a significant savings right there."

The homelessness issue isn't cleared up by any means, and the Chair told council Monday, that there are still between 80 and 97 people utilizing the emergency shelter each night.  "It will be [persistent] for a while, but as the program progresses on we would hope that the numbers would begin to drop.  We are already seeing slight drops.  There are a number of reasons for the [usage].  Sometimes is just people passing through and wind up in the shelter.  People would be surprised to know that there are people living in the shelter that do have jobs, but can't find a place to stay.  If we can get more affordable housing units in place, then we would start to see that number start to drop right away."

Campbell says, he isn't sure how much money there will be for the build of affordable housing this year just that there will be some.  "The province made its own commitment, in a 10 year plan to end homelessness in Alberta.  There are dollars, they aren't huge numbers, and we have to apply like everyone else.  [The province] is addressing [homelessness] and at this point they haven't cut those numbers and we are pleased with that.  We'll get our share based on a formula used throughout the province."

A SHIA spin-off, Project Homeless Connect, has also proven hugely successful.  "It's to get people with low income, people who are living in the shelter or the working poor, connected to service agencies.  It gets them help in getting a social insurance number, getting their Alberta Health Care card, basic stuff like getting haircuts.  We're going to continue doing it twice a year; the next one is April 24, 2010 at the Seniors Centre."