The city's housing strategy is starting to pay off with fewer homeless loitering in the downtown core, say social service advocates.
Those tackling the city's homeless problem have noticed a drop in people seeking refuge in emergency shelters and squatting in city parks and they credit the city's "housing first" strategy for the change.
The controversial plan rolled out in 2008 to get Nanaimo's homeless, including the drug-addicted and mentally ill, into permanent housing. Low-barrier units have already opened on Tenth and Wesley streets and the Nanaimo John Howard Society opened a new rental subsidy pilot program in October.
"There is a general consensus that a diminished amount of (homeless) people are in the downtown," said John Horn, the city's social planner. "It's absolutely encouraging ... to see that we are achieving that goal of reducing homelessness and we haven't really even finished playing all of our (cards)."
Two more low-barrier housing projects are expected to be constructed on Dufferin Crescent and Uplands and more rental subsidy units could be added to the pool of six provided through the John Howard Society.
The subsidy program helps people get affordable housing, but not the 24-hour service of low-barrier projects. The apartment units are spread out around Nanaimo.
Workers dealing with homelessness agree the additional rooms have triggered a marked improvement in the number of visibly homeless this year.
The emergency weather shelter operator for the Unitarian Fellowship Church said he continues to see 40 per cent of his beds remain empty, despite a wet and frigid winter-last year they had to turn people away at the door. The Nanaimo RCMP are seeing less people camp in parks compared to winter 2011.
"There have been several new beds open up in the community this year and it's definitely working," said Const. Wally Taylor with the Nanaimo RCMP bike unit.
"We have a pretty good pulse on things and are seeing quite an improvement (for people living on the streets and transient homeless people) compared to previous years."
The shift will mean less drain on resources with "far fewer ambulance and fire services calls," Taylor said.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority's homeless outreach team is one of the few groups working directly with the homeless that hasn't noticed a noticeable change.
Their case load of about 200 to 300 people remains the same, said Norma Winspear, co-ordinator of adult support services for Nanaimo Mental Health and Addictions. The case loads include people freshly housed and the homeless.
"We are not out there asking 'where have all the homeless gone?' Winspear said. "But what is exciting for us, is that we are seeing several clients get permanent housing . . . and we have seen a continuum of housing resources that are giving people more options."
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