THREAD The mass homelessness we're seeing in Toronto & Canada is without question a disaster. It's a disaster on the same scale - or bigger - then most of the biggest natural disasters in Canadian history. So what would happen if we treated it as such? bit.ly/2Qts7dW 1/

1st let's look at the scale of #homelessness. It happens to at least 235,000 Canadians per year, 35,000 every night and costs $7 BILLION per year. It kills an unknown number of people & reduces life expectancy for thousands. homelessmemorials.com/memorial/ 2/

The scale of #homelessness is the same our our worst natural disasaters. bit.ly/2S1ESJJ We have to respond accordingly. Municipal disaster response processes provide a model for ending #homelessness. What does that look like & how could it apply? 3/

Let's use #yyc 2013 flood response as an example. A key in EVERY successful local disaster response is strong local leadership. @nenshi was a terrific example. He led from the front, owned the issue, had clear direction, rallied Calgarians & he drove collaboration 4/

In every disaster response there is a multiagency command centre uniting all the critical players using real- time data to problem solve. This same approach should be used in responding to homelessness. This is coordinated access with a sense of urgency bit.ly/2nnWno7 5/

The first priority in every disaster is to make people safe. In 2013 over 75,000 Calgary households were displaced and every single person who needed it was provided shelter. 6/

At the SAME TIME the community mobilized to get people back into their homes. I repeat BACK INTO HOMES. Municipal disaster response focuses 1st on safety & concurrently & urgently on rehousing. There are housing options NOW for at least some people experiencing #homelessness 7/

Importantly, the ONLY people still homeless in Calgary after the flood are those who were #homeless BEFORE the flood. We should be asking ourselves why to understand why #homelessness from poverty & policy gets lower priority than #homelessness from natural disaster. 8/

In successful disaster responses all levels of government work together. #Homelessness often seems like the political equivalent of a high school dance with each gov't standing along the wall looking at their feet. This is where local leadership can be critical. 9/

Somebody has to make the first move and that is most often the Mayor. The federal government has returned to housing leadership with the National Housing Strategy, but the Mayors and importantly the provinces need to step with the same urgency as in a natural disaster 10/

Successful disaster response efforts are also constantly improving - during the crisis and after. Data centred continuous improvement using Human Centred Design, iteration and rapid cycle testing is a proven approach to ending #homelessness bit.ly/2LhI7Kp 11/

And finally prevention - before the flood waters had even receded plans were being made in #yyc to prevent another flood having the same impact. In #homelessness there are immediate measures that can be taken to reduce homelessness NOW. For eg. eviction prevention & diversion 12/

Municipal disaster responses provide a template for ending #homelessness. We know HOW to end #homelessness, but we are choosing not to. @cathycrowe and her colleagues are right. Homelessness is a disaster. It's time to respond accordingly. END/

P.S. It's worth noting that this approach is the model @TAEHomelessness and @cityoftoronto are following through our 20,000 Homes Campaign & Zero TO and is embedded in Fed's new Reaching Home #homelessness strategy 20khomes.ca