Housing First_.

The Crisis

Since the pandemic, every city and town has growing encampments of people living in tents or other temporary constructions. The shelters for the homeless seem to be at capacity. This is a problem in Cities and Towns across North America. Atlantic Canada is not immune, in our lifetimes we have not seen anything like this. We do not claim to understand the cause, nor do we have a solution. We do have a desire to understand and to play a small part in a solution.

What can MacGillivray Law do?

Our day-to-day work is representing people who have had their lives turned upside down because of an injury, usually in a car accident. We also advocate for those trying to get insurance disability or Canada Pension disability. So, by trade and profession, we are advocates, we speak for people to try and access benefits and to get them compensation.

It is best that we focus on what we know. We will open files and advocate for people who need a place to live. We will work with landlords and work with agencies to help them access government and non-profit programs.

We are going to hire social workers to help us do this.

Keeping it Simple

We are doing a pilot project focused on small towns. Our firm was founded in New Glasgow Nova Scotia before developing over 30 years into a regional firm. So, we are doing the pilot project in New Glasgow.

The Social Workers we hire will have one job, to help individuals and families find a place to live, to get them housing first. We understand part of the problem is that there are not enough homes, but there is no short-term fix for that. So, our goal for the social workers will be to help our clients access what is available now.

Getting people into stable, long-term shelter is an important first step in allowing people to have autonomy in their lives and address any other issues, such as mental illness, financial insecurity, and addiction.

Our Commitment

We are committed to putting significant resources into this pilot project and to keeping an open mind and learning. We are going to immediately hire two social worker advocates who will work with our legal team exclusively on this project.

Our hope is that as a private business with centralized leadership that we will be able to learn, adapt, and pivot without the need of reporting to committees or government. We can bring the benefits of private sector business to this problem and encourage others to do the same. We do not know the answer, but we do believe that Government alone cannot solve this problem.

We are currently seeking applicants for Housing Navigator to work with us on this initiative. To apply, visit us here.