St. Albert has hired a new housing specialist to work toward long-term homelessness prevention strategies and addressing the housing needs of vulnerable groups in St. Albert.
Marnie Lee will work in close collaboration with the city’s affordable-housing liaison within the planning department, who looks at how a wide spectrum of housing needs are being met within the city.
Lee said one key aspect of her role will be to create more awareness around housing instability in the community.
“St. Albert is well known for being a caring and inclusive community, but we do know that homelessness is an issue,” Lee said. “Every night, there are individuals who are sleeping outside, or in their car, or on a friend’s couch, or they might be on the verge of losing their housing.”
For the past 17 years, Lee worked in the municipal government sector, and has specific experience working in community and social development. In her new position, Lee said one priority she will look at “right away” is searching for partnerships and grants for the operation of the city’s youth transitional housing project.
“The key focus when you’re looking at any sort of supportive transitional housing is ensuring that you have sustainable funding for the operation,” Lee said. “We really want to make sure that we partner with other agencies so that there’s resources available in the community for the long term."
The transitional home was recommended by the Mayor’s Task Force to End Homelessness, which was initiated in 2018. Youth are one of four vulnerable groups identified by the task force’s final report.
While seniors, newcomers, and survivors of domestic violence are also at risk, the report said there were no existing resources for youth that were unhoused or at risk of losing their housing.
Looking beyond housing
Lee said the transitional housing project is an example of looking “beyond the basic need of housing.”
“We need to look at the other ways that we can support individuals so that they can have long-term success,” Lee said.
She said one challenge she anticipates in her position is addressing the “complexity” of housing as a social issue.
“When we're looking at an issue like this, we really need to look at look at it in a multitude of ways,” Lee said. “Structural, systemic, and individual factors contribute to homelessness, as well as the intersectionality between other issues like mental health and addictions.”
Lee said she feels the preventative nature of her role is essential, adding that preventing and addressing homelessness benefits the whole community.
“We know that stable housing really is a key determinant in the health of individuals and families and community, and so there are significant costs for the community and the economy if we're not looking at addressing homelessness,” Lee said.
“I think it's very encouraging that the City of St. Albert has been looking at this issue and that they’re committed to making lasting change.”
