Coming up on my third year at Siloam Mission, I can’t help but feel Winnipeg has the potential to set a shining example to cities around the world on how we treat our poor and homeless.

Heading into 2012, here are my top eight New Year’s wishes to improve the lives of Winnipeg’s less fortunate.

1. Re-thinking our attitude toward the homeless. It’s easy to get dismayed about the homelessness crisis in our city when driving down north Main Street and seeing intoxicated people passed out in front of run-down hotel bars. But homeless doesn’t mean hopeless.

Let’s consider their circumstance. Nobody thinks they’ve “made it” when they’re addicted to solvents or sharing their room with 100 other folks in a shelter. Nobody dreams of this. And nobody deserves homelessness as a life sentence. When we look at people as people first, we can help them achieve their full capacity.

2. Re-think the welfare system. Manitoba’s welfare system is a convoluted series of tunnels and red tape that makes it hard to navigate, hard to administer and hard to understand for anyone who doesn’t have an advocate at the welfare office. We need to raise welfare rates, but not before fixing the system to make sure those who need help the most get it.

3. Create affordable housing. Our homelessness population will only keep growing unless we invest in affordable homes for people to actually live in. We have one of the lowest vacancy rates in Canada. Let’s change that.

4. Create social-enterprise jobs. Many homeless people have stopped coping with life and need to rebuild their personal capacity. You can’t expect them to just re-enter the workforce without supports in place to help them succeed. We need social-enterprise jobs coupled with employment-training to re-instill confidence and skills in a safe environment where people are allowed to fail and get back up without losing their job.

SUPPORT PROGRAMS

5. Stop giving to panhandlers. There are many organizations, including Siloam Mission, that offer paid employment-training for people who want to move forward in their life. Support those programs instead of giving to panhandlers. They know the need, they’ve built up trust with those on the street, and they know how to best help.

6. Shed the mental health stigma. We need to face the fact mental health illness is very real and robs people of achieving their full capacity. Half of the people relying on Siloam’s services have untreated or undiagnosed mental health illnesses. Let’s start recognizing their problems, and recognizing them as people.

7. Stop venomous language. They’re not hobos, scumbags or bums. They’re people. Don’t expect people to move forward in their life when social stigma is holding them back. People will rise to expectations. Let’s stop spewing venomous language that only serves to tear down, not build up.

8. Public and private partnerships. If we are going to tackle the homelessness crisis, we’re going to need to work together. That means no finger-pointing and shifting blame on others. I’m a big advocate for private nonprofits doing the work (at a high quality of care) leveraged by volunteers and backed by corporate support and government help.

— Perras is executive director of Siloam Mission.