SARAH WILLIAMS

STAFF WRITER

Recently, Craig Mills, General Manager of 99.3 County FM Voice of the County presented Prince Edward County Council with details about an upcoming documentary series on rural homelessness. Voices From The Shadows, the eight part series, will focus on the unique challenges of homelessness in rural areas such as the County. The series is made possible by The Community Radio Fund of Canada and will run from April 6 to May 25.

99.3 FM is a not-for-profit, volunteer driven, community-funded radio station with the intention of reflecting and contributing to the cultural richness, diversity, and vitality of the County.

“Our volunteers have been working on this about a year, all told. Mark Rodgers, Dave MacKay and Phil Knox did the interviews. It was a chance for us to give homeless people and their families a voice,” said Mills, providing context. “The object was to build understanding and empathy but by no means are we pretending to be experts on homelessness.”

Mills noted that while homelessness is often perceived as an urban issue, it is nonetheless present in rural areas. This is due, he noted, to several factors.

Craig Mills.

“Unhoused in rural areas face unique challenges as there are fewer affordable rentals due to the price of housing and abundance of short term accommodations,” said Mills. “We’re talking to people living in the shadows.”

Mills said he hopes the series will encourage community engagement while shining a light on this local issue.

“We went out to do 25 interviews and ended up with 60. It’s a broad cross section of people,” added Mills.

Along with information about the upcoming documentary series, Mills provided council with results from a survey about perceived social issues in the County.

“We received 101 responses. Most of the respondents live in the County and over half said they knew someone who experienced homelessness,” stated Mills. “67 per cent of respondents said they could not list services available to assist homeless people.”

Mills pointed to the importance people feel should be placed on poverty, mental health and food insecurity based on the survey results.

Mills also stated the survey results pointed to a need for improved mental supports, affordable housing, an more social services. Respondents also expressed that the problem is complex.

Volunteers with the project offered their reflections on local homelessness and Mills provided some of those to council as well.

“I was really surprised that the more I conducted interviews of current and formerly homeless people the more causes of homelessness became apparent, and that homelessness can happen at any age,” commented Phil Knox. “We spoke with 86 people and traveled over 975 km from Quinte West, Belleville, Napanee, and PEC and my eyes were really opened to how big the problem is and how hard it has been for people to get help and those trying to provide the various solutions to all of the causes for homelessness. Some people have found a way through this minefield but there are lots out there still struggling.”

Mark Rodgers, another volunteer and former President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Canada, interviewed those experiencing homeless and reflected on the complexity of the issue.

“I’ve been struck by how complex and difficult life is for individuals experiencing homelessness. There is no quick fix or singular solution to help them turn their lives and circumstances around,” said Rodgers. “Addressing one issue, like a safe place to stay, doesn’t begin to address the layers of other issues they face, like addiction, food insecurity, employment, and so on. It’s an exhausting hill to climb.”

Rodgers also reflected on the differences between urban and rural homelessness, pointing toward fewer social safety nets in the latter.

“When you think about homelessness in urban areas… there are more programs and available social safety nets. In rural community some of those things don’t exist or they’re not coordinated. I think this survey brought out the fact that people in the community aren’t aware of what services are available,” said Rodgers. “What I think is unique and replicated in places heavy on tourism-such as Collingwood- is these issues are heightened. There’s a growing gap and sometimes the things that make us progressive don’t always trickle down to people desperately in need.”

Mark Rodgers

Councillor Chris Braney congratulated Mills on a job well done and offered his support to help ebb the tide of homelessness in the County.

“What you’re doing right now is imperative. I think, as many of us around the table realize with economic uncertainty and high interest rates, we’re already in a crisis and it could turn into a bigger one,” said Braney. “I would love to get behind anything we can do around this table to help this cause.”

Councillor Bill Roberts noted the documentary series is further evidence of 99.3 County FM’s essential role in the community and noted it is within everyone’s power to advocate for an end to poverty.

“I think one of the things that occurred to me in going through the slide deck is that we all have an opportunity to do our best to be what I’d call poverty abolitionists. I think homelessness, as you’ve identified, is highly corelated with poverty,” said Roberts. “I was struck with the results when you asked respondents to identify just one major social issue and, as you mentioned it was food insecurity. Poverty came up second. Isn’t poverty the biggest and maybe only issue and aren’t all the other choices on that graph, such as mental health, homelessness and substance abuse, aren’t they symptoms and consequences of poverty?”

Mills responded that while there is a causal relationship between poverty and homelessness, there are myriad other reasons why an individual might find themselves unhoused.

“There are so many reasons we have people become homeless. If you’ve got disease affecting your mind and you’re between services, you end up homeless. There are also examples of people fleeing their homes,” commented Mills.

Roberts added that Mill’s deputation was a reminder that the disparity between the “haves” and “have nots” is growing in the County.

“You really drew my attention, as a councillor, to how big an issue this is. I’m thinking the real message to leave with us is the County is going through wonderful and creative changes where economic growth is happening,” reflected Roberts. “But, seven figure homes and high six figure homes are happening simultaneously with increasing homelessness. Something for us to really understand.”