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'It's definitely an emergency': Homeless rates spiking in eastern Nova Scotia, study shows

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SYDNEY, N.S. -

The number of people who are homeless in eastern Nova Scotia is rising at an alarming rate, according to a recent study.

“It's easy at times to not notice if you're not in certain areas of the community or if you don't associate with certain people, but there are lots of people living in tents in Sydney. There are people sleeping on the street. There are people living under staircases of commercial buildings,” said Jodi McDavid, executive director of Cape Breton Transition House.

McDavid says rising costs and the lack of affordable housing is a combination of factors that are sending people to the streets.

“You are talking about people who were already having a hard time to make a go of it. It is an emergency. It's definitely an emergency,” said McDavid.

Nearly 500 people in eastern Nova Scotia are struggling with homelessness, according to numbers released by Cape Breton University.

“The interventions that we've been applying to the challenge have not been working,” said Erika Shea, president and CEO of New Dawn Enterprises, a social welfare organization that provides supportive housing.

Shea warns that CBRM will see its own tent cities popping up if something is not done soon.

“Our colleagues at the Ally Centre share with us that they're not able to keep donated tents in stock. As soon as they are provided with a supply of tents, those tents are claimed,” said Shea.

Forty-nine per cent of people struggling with homelessness are women and 47 per cent are men according to the study, with the majority over the age of 29.

“It is imperative that all three levels of government look at this as an urgent social and economic issue, and not one that we can just tweak and message the solutions we've been applying,” said Shea.

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