Community Drug Strategies Encampments
Now that I got your attention with the clickbait. Not all unhoused are on drugs. Balancing the immediate reality of public encampments with the need for permanent housing requires the municipality to move beyond traditional zoning debates and use its direct regulatory authority to protect residents. Kitchener must ensure that existing rental stock remains livable and affordable for the working class. My priority is enacting a Dual-Action Property Standards Bylaw to strictly enforce building codes in high-density areas. When corporate landlords neglect essential services like heat, water, or safety, municipal fines should be paid directly to the affected tenants as financial restitution, bypassing Landlord and Tenant Board delays to enforce real property management accountability.
While the region and province debate long-term shelter funding and construction timelines, the city must offer immediate economic agency to unhoused residents. I will champion a municipal Peer Employment program, modeled after successful local initiatives like St. John’s Kitchen and cooperative spaces like Recycle Cycles, to provide low-barrier, dignity-based work. By hiring local unhoused and underemployed residents to clear winter footpaths, maintain multi-use trails, and support local trade initiatives, we provide them with the financial means and stability to access the housing that is available right now, bypassing bureaucratic delays and fostering true community independence.
Community Care Program - Kelowna, BC: Above, I provided a document of another program. This initiative provides one-hour shifts for people experiencing homelessness to pick up litter and clean public spaces. Participants are paired with a peer navigator, and the program has been successful in providing both a paycheck and a pathway to social connection. In a single quarter, the program had over 100 unique participants and collected over 400 buckets of litter.
In 2018, the DBIA launched a new program called One City Peterborough in partnership with the Warming Room (now One City Peterborough). The program provides meaningful employment to those with barriers to traditional employment. The clean team brings an extra layer of micro cleaning to the downtown during the summer and concentrates on areas that are sometimes overlooked, like alleyways.
In Alberta, they have a Washroom Attendant Program: The city hires attendants for public washrooms in partnership with Hiregood, a social enterprise that employs people with lived experience of homelessness. This program created approximately 100 full-time and part-time jobs, offering training in de-escalation and harm reduction alongside a regular paycheck
My receipts to support his job program in Kitchener Downtown Ward 10. I am not running on dreams and hypothetical theory; my bylaws and motions are grounded in objective reality.
The July 19, 2022 hearing was convened by the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, with the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development conducting the proceedings. The hearing featured testimony from leaders of organizations including Work Works America, the Doe Fund, Journey On, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, whose on-the-ground experience lent significant weight to discussions of low-barrier employment programs that provide actual jobs and paychecks to individuals experiencing homelessness.
In Philadelphia, they have a Ready, Willing & Able (RWA): Run by The Doe Fund, this program provides paid transitional work to homeless men, many of whom have histories of incarceration or substance abuse. Participants are known as the "Men in Blue" and perform community clean-up and maintenance. The program is recognized for using work as a mechanism to overcome barriers to permanent employment
Minneapolis is also considering a First Step Staffing (FSS) program. This non-profit staffing agency specializes in employing individuals experiencing homelessness. In 2023 alone, it employed 7,638 people and provided over 57,000 rides to work, operating in cities like Philadelphia, Nashville, Orlando, and Dallas
Ready to Work (Work Works Model). This program combines paid transitional work in a social enterprise with immediate housing. Participants work while living in program-provided housing and receiving case management, creating a direct pathway from homelessness to employment and independent housing
Albuquerque’s "There's a Better Way" program takes a proactive, compassionate approach by driving a van directly through areas known for panhandling and offering folks a day job on the spot. Instead of asking for a resume or a permanent address, the city partners with a local nonprofit to hire people for the day to landscape and clean up public spaces alongside the Solid Waste Department. At the end of their shift, workers are paid above minimum wage, giving them immediate cash in hand while quietly connecting them to on-site mental health services and pathways to permanent housing.
Source: https://www.jobguarantee.org/program/theres-a-better-way-program/#:~:text=*%20Number%20of%20participants.%206%2C666%20jobs%2C%201%2C575,addition%20to%20the%20municipality%20(5).%20*%20Implementation.
In Denver, the "Denver Day Works" initiative operates on a similar philosophy of immediate trust and accessible opportunity. Funded by the city and run by Bayaud Enterprises, the program lets participants choose three- to six-hour shifts beautifying local parks and business districts in exchange for same-day cash payments.
Over in North Carolina, Raleigh’s "The Workforce" program tackles both community beautification and housing precarity by teaming up with grassroots nonprofits like The Great Raleigh Cleanup. Unhoused individuals are hired at standard wages to clear litter from city parks, roadsides, and waterways, giving them the dignity of a predictable paycheck to meet their daily survival needs. More than just a temporary gig, the city uses this immediate, low-barrier employment as a bridge, working hand-in-hand with housing departments to help transition these workers into permanent, stable homes.
Source: https://raleighnc.gov/climate-action-and-sustainability/services/workforce-program-creating-opportunities-people#:~:text=The%20Workforce%20Program%3A%20Creating%20Opportunities%20for%20People,at%20the%20Table%20on%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Workforce%E2%80%9D%20program.
Now there will still be some doubt, but my response is that Cambridge does it too
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