Homelessness impacts everyone - The real cost of homelessness: Can we save money by doing the right thing?

This report summarizes what we know about the cost of addressing homelessness by looking at key literature from Canada and the United States. What becomes clear is that the status quo is actually really expensive. It may seem counter intuitive to suggest that it is cheaper and more cost effective to provide people who experience homelessness with the housing and supports they need, rather than simply provide them with emergency supports through shelters and soup kitchens. However, the research reviewed here indicates that this is actually the case. The best social and economic policies should be based on research and evidence, and in this case, the evidence points to the fact that if we do things differently, we not only achieve better social outcomes, but we also save money.
http://www.homelesshub.ca/Library/The-real-cost-of-homelessness--Can-we-save-money-by--doing-the-right-thing-55023.aspx
Full report in PDF
http://www.homelesshub.ca/ResourceFiles/costofhomelessness_paper21092012.pdf

Homelessness impacts everyone.
From the costs of emergency shelters, to institutional health and psychiatric services and the criminal justice system, to the individual physical and mental health impact on every homeless person, the causes and effects of homelessness cost all Canadians dearly.
video https://vimeo.com/49930213

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Pilot Project Benefits Hearing Impaired in Nunavut enabled by new broadband Internet connections

April 10, 2013 10:00 ET
Pilot Project Benefits Hearing Impaired in Nunavut
Excerpt -
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/pilot-project-benefits-hearing-impaired-in-nunavut-1777322.htm

Videoconference initiative enabled by new broadband Internet connections
IQALUIT, NUNAVUT--(Marketwired - April 10, 2013) - Six communities across
Nunavut are participating in a pilot project to test videoconference
equipment that will better facilitate communication for the deaf in the
territory, thanks to a partnership between the governments of Canada and
Nunavut, the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation (NBDC), and the
Canadian Deafness Research and Training Institute (CDRTI).
[...]
Dr. James MacDougall of CDRTI, who has been involved with a Government of
Nunavut-sponsored project to document Inuit Sign Language, stated that,
"Video Phone technology can greatly assist in the full inclusion of deaf
Nunavummiut in all aspects of community life. This represents one of the
core values of Nunavut."
Wendy Ireland, Executive Director of the Nunavummi Disabilities
Makinnasuaqtiit Society, is excited about the possibilities. "This is
obviously a great advance for deaf people, but it also holds considerable
potential for people with other types of disabilities who need face to
face communication within and between communities from the comfort of
their home."
This pilot project is part of Meet Online, a suite of videoconferencing
solutions designed to operate over Nunavut's satellite-based network. Meet
Online has dedicated bandwidth that offers a reliable connection between
any two communities in Nunavut. Arviat, Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit,
Pond Inlet, and Arctic Bay are all participating in this pilot project.
Equipment is also located in Ottawa and Montréal to test communications
with southern Canada.
This videoconferencing pilot, which was developed with QINIQ service
provider SSi Micro Ltd., is funded through NBDC's Infrastructure II
project. The Canadian Deafness Research and Training Institute (CDRTI)
helped identify participants across Nunavut and is the primary partner in
the project.
[...]
BACKGROUNDER
NUNAVUT BROADBAND
The Government of Canada is providing a total contribution of $21,601,175
to the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation (NBDC) to increase
satellite capacity, produce new bandwidth management tools and upgrade the
existing QINIQ network for the benefit of 25 communities:
- Arctic Bay (Nanisivik)
- Arviat
- Baker Lake
- Cambridge Bay
- Cape Dorset
- Chesterfield Inlet
- Clyde River
- Coral Harbour
- Gjoa Haven
- Grise Fiord
- Hall Beach
- Igloolik
- Iqaluit
- Kimmirut
- Kugaaruk (Pelly Bay)
- Kugluktuk
- Pangnirtung
- Pond Inlet
- Qikiqtarjuaq (Broughton Island)
- Rankin Inlet
- Repulse Bay
- Resolute Bay
- Sanikiluaq
- Taloyoak (Spence Bay)
- Whale Cove

#YZF #NWT's #GiantMine #arsenic to cost billions to #cleanup & look after for many 1,000's of years

RT @northern_clips: #YZF #NWT's #GiantMine #arsenic to cost billions to #cleanup & look after for many 1,000's of years http://ow.ly/jJ0IN #boreal #environment
[excerpt] "… The news wires are alive with reports of a billion dollar estimate for remediating the Giant Mine in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Here is an extract from one report:
http://globalnews.ca/news/444007/ottawa-reconsiders-toxic-sites-priorities-after-giant-mine-cleanup/
    Documents obtained by northern environmentalists show the government expects the cost of cleaning up the Giant Mine just outside Yellowknife to be nearly a billion dollars – perhaps the largest single environmental cleanup in Canada and paid for entirely by taxpayers. Initial estimates for safely dealing with the huge site, which includes a toxic smorgasbord of buildings, tailings ponds and a quarter-million tonnes of arsenic stored underground, were about $488 million. A federal progress report on the project says costs have increased as more has become known about the scale of the problem.
    "The increase in estimated costs occurred as a result of the normal progression through the preliminary phases of the remediation project (… increased site information and detail obtained over time)," the report says. Rising labour and equipment costs are also part of the problem. So is the current state of the mine, which is so bad that emergency measures need to be taken this summer before large amounts of arsenic start escaping from collapsing buildings. The official price tag of $903 million could get higher yet.
The 2010 764-page Giant Mine Remediation Project Developer's Assessment Report is available at this link http://www.reviewboard.ca/upload/project_document/EA0809-001_Giant_DAR_1288220431.PDF if you want all the details and the history of the seemingly never-ending study of the site.
Can't say they have not documented conditions and options. Although there are few options that are truly viable.
I have visited the site and met some of the folk involved in trying to move the project ahead. I attest they are professional and committed to action.
Yet there are so many interested parties, stakeholders, and study groups the process seems to be stuck in study not action.
The official site for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada tells of some of this multi-party study: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100027364/1100100027365 …."

--
GEORGE LESSARD

Information, Communications and Media Specialist
Spécialiste en l'information, communications et  media
451 Norseman Dr.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
X1A 2J1, Canada
E-mail: mediamentorATgmailDOTcom
iPhone FaceTime/text cell: 867 445-9193
Skype: themediamentor
Website mediamentor.ca
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Member:
Canadian Artists Representation / le Front des artistes canadiens
Canadian Artists Representation Copyright Collective

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