When I was in school in the 60s, I remember being taught of the four things that humans need – food, water, clothing, and shelter**.
Many of these have been included in the UN Declaration of Human Rights but the capitalistic system knows that since these are needs they want to control them. Major corporations control the majority of our food in our society and land speculators/investors are buying up land and buildings at an unprecedented rate.
Corporations would love to own the water coming out of our taps but are somewhat content in owning the single use plastic bottle water industry.

In March, 2024 “the Federal Housing Advocate and National Right to Housing Network hosted a online panel discussion on the Advocate’s final encampments report and her urgent call for a human rights-based National Encampments Response Plan.”
Here is the video recording of this webinar.

• The Edmonton Coalition on Housing & Homelessness (ECOHH) – “has a vision of safe, appropriate, affordable and adequate housing for all Edmontonians.
  ECOHH raises awareness of housing issues and advocates for the right to housing through a multitude of activities and actions, including hosting regularly scheduled monthly meetings.”
  ECOHH also has a Facebook group that is not linked to the website but where a wide variety of articles, links, and news stories are regularly posted.
• Coalition for Justice and Human Rights – “We are a coalition of human rights advocates and professionals working in solidarity in Edmonton”. Twitter.
• Chris Wiebe – lawyer and local activist. A member of Coalition for Justice and Human Rights
• Jim Gurnett – local activist
• Homeward Trust – “Homelessness affects us all.
  Homelessness is a complex issue that no single program or agency can solve alone. To prevent, reduce and end homelessness, governments and civil society organizations must collaborate and stay fully committed to that goal. Our work is grounded in the belief that everyone has the right to a home and that our communities are stronger, safer, and more vibrant for everyone when homelessness is addressed. Ultimately, the solution to homelessness is housing.”
  Hoemward Trust is a organization that receives their entire funding from government sources (they also do fundraising) and are therefore beholding to those same governments (especially the provincial government). Groups that are funded in whole by a government or a corporation tend not to be able to voice justifiable criticism of the hand that is feeding it.
• End Poverty Edmonton – “Affordable housing means having a safe, affordable and an appropriate place to live that meets the specific needs of people, that costs less than 30% of a family or individual’s income. Without affordable, appropriate and safe housing, those experiencing poverty spend most of their income on a place to live, stay with others, or face homelessness.”
• Grow Together YEG – new group that is focused on affordability, zoning bylaws, climate action/justice, municipal financial sustainability, etc. Things a heating up with the revamping of the decades old zoning bylaws and there is some push back by residents that do not wish to see things that they deem ‘undesirable’ in their neighbourhoods.
• Bear Claw Beaver Hills House – Indigenous led street workers
• 4B Harm Reduction Society – Yeg frontline street outreach team filling gaps created by bad policy. Mostly focuses on drug policy but everything overlaps – unhoused/poverty/addictions/mental health/etc. Their website is 4B Harm Reduction Society (4BHRS).
• HARES Outreach – grassroots mutual aid network doing street outreach in amiskwaciwâskahikan otherwise known as Edmonton, AB. *MA request fulfillment currently paused
• Tawâw Outreach Collective – YEG: We Challenge Colonial Systems & Embrace Culture 🪶Grassroots • Indigenous-Led • Harm Reduction • Mutual-Aid • Street Outreach • Advocacy • Training
• Bissell Centre – multifaceted organization that tries to address many challenges facing people of the inner-city.
• Speaking Municipally (Taproot Edmonton) – has some good insights to housing, zoing bylaws and such. This podcast is hosted by Troy Pavlek and Mack Male.

Alberta and Canadian-Wide Resources

• Federal Housing Advocate – “The Federal Housing Advocate promotes and protects the right to housing in Canada.” 
• Canadian Observatory on Homelessness – “The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub – a library of over 30,000 resources.”
• Affordable Housing Solutions Lab, University of Alberta – “In 2016, End Poverty Edmonton (EPE) recommended the creation of “a community based learning project to look at housing and zoning innovation in Edmonton.”

Rent, Tenants, and Landlords

In every major city of the world, speculators are buying up land, buildings, apartments, etc. They know that a place to live is a basic human need and there is money to be made on the backs of these renters.
They keep the new housing at a level that forces scarcity to they control the market.
In several places, renters are fighting back.
People like Robert Andjelic and Bill Gates are buying up vast tracks of land in Canada and the USA respectively. Why? Because they know that food is another commodity that people require and they want to own the land that the food is produced on – thus making a great return on investment.

• Vancouver Renters Union
• York South-Weston Tenant Union (Toronto) – they are offering some training through their website.
• ACORN “(Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada is a multi-issue, membership-based community union of low- and moderate-income people. We believe that social and economic justice can best be achieved by building community power for change. Each member has a vote, and only members speak for the organization and have the authority to set the policy and determine the tactics of each group.” See their webpage on Housing and Tenant Unions
• How to form a tenants union from Tenants Together.

The Radical Housing Journal (RHJ) is an orientation, a praxis for doing research and action. It seeks to critically intervene in pre and post-crisis housing experiences and activist strategies from around the world without being confined to the strict dogmatism of academic knowledge production.
The Right to Counsel has a primer on renters strikes

Zoning laws have a major impact on land-use. Here is an article that summarizes the challenges and offers some solutions – https://edmonton.taproot.news/briefs/2023/06/08/calls-for-public-engagement-zoning-bylaw-and-neighbourhood-renewals

Housing, Poverty, Healthcare, Government Policies, Capitalism/Greed all overlap. We need to address all of these factors.

Finland’s Strategy – a possible solution

Findland took a long term path to reducing homelessness and it has been quite successful. Their Housing First initiative has caused houselessness to decline since it was first initiated in 2008.

https://scoop.me/housing-first-finland-homelessness/

**PS – I also believe that we need love.