Red Deer is being praised for the way the city tackles homelessness.

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness says the city’s strategy — getting people in homes before addressing their other issues — is an example the rest of the country should follow.

Red Deer’s Housing First Program has placed more than 300 people in homes since 2010, said spokesperson Barb Barber.

“If people don't have a house, and some stability that way, it's really hard to focus on any other aspect in your life,” she said.

The program is a chance at a fresh start for 26-year-old oil worker Jesse Dyvig after struggles with alcohol abuse left him homeless.

Continued support

Dyvig said stories like his are common in Alberta.

“Most of them have gone through the oil patch, made a ton of money and, you know, only trouble can come from a 20-something making six digits a year,” he said.

Barber attributes the program’s success to the fact that a team of support workers spends a full year working with people once they are placed in a home.

“It’s not like we rush out and we find you an apartment and we hand you the keys — here is a couch, here is a bed, here is a loaf of bread — thank you very much. Give us a call if you need us,” she said.

Dyvig said he wants to be part of that success story.

“They have the workers … that stay in touch with you so you can kind of build some stability and sort of retrain yourself to live as a normal human being,” he said.

“If they didn't have programs like this I am not even sure I would be alive right now.”