Surviving Edmonton: 1 year spent with homeless people seeking stable housing

I actually recognize Kimberly, I used to work at Lucky 97 Supermarket and I'd see her come in every so often. She wouldn't buy anything major, just a bag of candy. Now that I know her and her story, I can say that if I see her, I'm buying her something warm and telling her that this stranger is thankful she's around and thriving despite being unhoused.

I m french from the Montreal area been trucking for 35 years and 10 of those years were from Edmonton, AB. on a normal winter many days are -30c and colder ! i can t imagine being outside for more than 15 min.! rent is so expensive you need to have a really good pay to afford it ! I couldn t even afford it as a trucker. i had to pay my chevy silverado 600 $ a month , 170$ for my storage room were all my belongings are, still paying that to this day ! ya !so i was living in motels on my days off. The rest of the time i was staying in the truck ! God bless those homeless ! one day at a time struggling the elements !

2 years ago I was homeless for 11 months. The summertime was the most freedom I have ever experienced.. and I will always treasure the mindfulness that homelessness taught me. I can relate to every one of these stories. The struggle of loneliness, navigating the system to get into housing, the stigmatization and living day to day. I was fortunate enough to get into my own apartment, and get my daughter back into my custody. I hope that one day we are able to get everyone into safe affordable housing.

I almost died when I was pregnant , I was sleeping under a bridge just a few roads over from Whyte Avenue. A peace officer woke me up, if he hadn't I don't think me and my 4 year old son would be here today . I was homeless on and off in Edmonton since I was about 14 . It's really hard to get off the streets . Really hard.

Australia is in a rental crisis, I've been homeless for a year, I've not been on the street luckily but I know what real survival mode is, and how life becomes so small

I wish Kimberly, Leanne, Troy and Adam the very best, and I hope they can find housing, peace and joy❤

$2000 for a 1 bedroom just reported on the news in Edmonton right now!

As a Canadian, I feel really sad for our country so called a rich country ! Our governement and society let down those citizens homeless

God bless the couple that is carrying around Noloxone and trying to help those that need it. They are such a beautiful example of giving of yourself even when you have very little to give.

Max rent for a single person on disability benefits is $500/mth out of the total $1249/mth and OW is less. Then people wonder why we have so many homeless people 😢

I lived on the streets of Edmonton during the winter months and I thought many times that I wasn’t going to wake up. -48 with the windchill so damn cold and I was 3 months pregnant to boot.! Never ever want to be in that place again!

I'm a red seal journeyman working and I used to have some disposable income to help with my mental health, to enjoy a hockey game with my son, go bowling or eat somewhere... Those days are long gone and the gross expenditures of the federal government and insane taxes have me barely making it paycheck to paycheck.. and work is now drying up as lower paid new Canadians "sub contractors" are taking all the work ... Politicians use the struggle as a political football

Its hard to make wise choices when all the options are crap

I don't understand how a solution for homelessness through government created employment hasn't been considered. Why can't they create an ethical labor industry that anyone who is unhoused can apply for and then receive a basic place to live, food and a bit of spending money as they get on their feet and enter a rehab program if need be? If they don't want to work for their housing (obviously excluding those who medically cannot), then I don't see why there should be enormous tax payer funding towards systems that obviously aren't making that much of a difference to solve the problem.

Adam & I used to volunteer at The Mustard Seed church together. Such great memories & laughs

The addictions are a problem . No one wants to rent to them .

My understanding of the housing crisis is that aside from much of it being turned into short term accom like Air BnB, REIT ETF’s as a real estate investment means giant corporations are buying up entire apartment buildings and raising rents exorbitantly. They literally drive people to homelessness. Housing needs to stop being financialized. It should be a basic human right just as healthcare should be. My heart goes out to the many displaced people struggling to survive. God bless.

I'm one of the lucky ones I was only on the streets for 3 weeks 8 years ago which in a way was good for me I was hard into the meth for a year being on the streets helped me realize that it wasn't me and I needed to change. It was bloody well cold out got frost bite on my toes in that 3 weeks but got off the meth got help and now I have my family back and thriving again.

fent and rent do not mix

😢I lived in Edmonton for 7 years. 2003-2009. 20 years ago you could rent a nice 2 bedroom apartment for 800-1000