In North American cities like New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto and countless others, we have grown accustomed to seeing people who are homeless walk among us, often in the shadows, often with visible signs of duress from addiction, mental illness or basic hopelessness. Simply put, we've become desensitized to the everyday experiences of persons visibly homeless in our cities and communities.

(Photo: Andy Clark/Reuters)

There is also little difference in cities in Europe or Australia that share North America's inability to address chronic homelessness through policy, programs or funding that offer long-term solutions to improve well-being and improve housing stability.

But change is possible.

Budget 2017 earmarked a whopping $11 billion for housing and homelessness across the country. There's no doubt this will have a big impact. However, these funds must not only build affordable housing, they must align with poverty reduction strategies and mental health and recovery initiatives currently underway if we are to truly reduce long-term homelessness.

A meaningful impact requires funding a broad range of supports to ensure fewer Canadians are among the estimated 35,000 who have no place to call home on any given night. Perhaps this historic funding and the pending release of the National Housing Strategy (NHS) give reason for hope.

It's important to consider where we have come from.

This vision is a good start, but it needs to ensure that no Canadian is left behind.

There is little doubt this federal investment will change lives simply by reinvesting in a depleted affordable housing stock that, from a national standpoint, has had little attention since the 1990s. This is the same period when Canada's homeless population increased rapidly in cities that failed to address the root causes of poverty and homelessness.

Why did earlier programs fail?

By not considering the root causes, we too often took a narrow approach to homelessness such as building shelters but not investing in ancillary services. The preliminary vision of the NHS is that all Canadians have access to housing that "meets their needs and they can afford" with housing described as "the cornerstone" of inclusive and economically prosperous communities. This vision is a good start, but it needs to ensure that no Canadian is left behind -- especially those struggling with chronic homelessness.

There is a successful model for tackling homelessness.

In the At Home/Chez Soi (AHCS) project that examined mental health and homelessness in Canada, we followed 2150 people over a period of six years (2008-2014). By working to bring together a range of supports and housing, we ended homelessness for a significant number of persons previously struggling with health and shelter needs. This landmark study pioneered the AHCS Housing First model in Canada which expanded from the original five cities to more than 60.