Permanent Supportive Housing (Parkside Inn Project) What is Permanent Supportive Housing? Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is a form of collective housing designed for complex needs individuals experiencing homelessness that offers full-time, on-site support services for tenants. It helps end the experience of chronic homelessness for people who face
barriers to housing due to mental/physical health problems or addictions. These services can include case management, substance abuse or mental health counseling, advocacy, and assistance in locating and maintaining employment.
Why do we need PSH in Grande Prairie? We believe finding the right housing for the right individuals who are experiencing chronic homelessness is key to successfully ending homelessness in Grande Prairie. We know that people in Grande Prairie need the supports that PSH provides. In 2018, the City of Grande Prairie identified 56 people experiencing chronic homelessness. Both the Grande Prairie Five Year Plan to End Homelessness (2015-2019) and the provincial plan to end homelessness have identified PSH as critical infrastructure for each plan to achieve success. All of Alberta’s 7 Cities on Housing and Homelessness, with the exception of Grande Prairie, have an inventory of PSH units and consider them a key component of their work toward ending homelessness.
Currently, no PSH units exist in Grande Prairie but we believe they are necessary to support these individuals to maintain stable housing and helping to end homelessness in our community. Along with the social/human argument for focusing efforts on ending chronic homelessness, there is an economic argument for investment of resources in moving people experiencing chronic homelessness into housing with supports, since chronic homelessness is accompanied by heavy use of health and justice systems.