Tough Times: Homelessness in Peel 2023 Features Stories of People Experiencing Homelessness and Housing Precarity
Peel Region (November 24, 2023) – Tough times have gotten tougher in Peel Region as homelessness continues to rise and affordable housing remains out of reach for many Peel residents. Recently, the Peel Poverty Action Group (PPAG), a grassroots organization, made a short film featuring people experiencing homelessness and housing precarity called Tough Times: Homelessness in Peel 2023. The 7-minute short features interviews with people sharing their struggles and sentiments about affordable housing, homelessness and the stigma that comes with it.
“We wanted to capture the views and stories of people who have and are still experiencing homelessness and how the system and society has failed them,” said Bruce Marshall, PPAG member and writer and director of the short. “We need to share their stories, bring more awareness to the issue and demand change from our governments and communities.”
Tough Times: Homelessness in Peel 2023, is a follow-up to a 2009 film called Spaces and Places, which was made and produced by PPAG along with other partners. One PPAG member, who appeared in Spaces and Places, Melissa Harricharan, is also featured in the 2023 video as the film’s narrator and as a person who through support, was able to turn her life around and counts herself as “one of the lucky ones.” In the film she says, “I beat my addiction, found housing, then a home, I’m a producer and contributor in society and the economy with a growing family.”
Unhoused and precariously-housed residents in Brampton and Mississauga were interviewed during the months of September and October 2023. Many of them have not found affordable housing and some are living in inadequate housing conditions. All those interviewed were compensated for their participation.
“We hope that this film will shed light on the desperate situation that our most vulnerable residents in Peel are facing. We also see it as a wake-up call and a call to action to demand more from our elected officials and to address the stigma that comes with being unhoused,” said Daphna Nussbaum, Coordinator and Analyst for the Peel Alliance to End Homelessness and Executive Producer for the film.
According to the Region of Peel, 91,000 people are in core housing need, which refers to
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About PPAG (Peel Poverty Action Group)
Peel Poverty Action Group is a grassroots organization working collaboratively and collectively, informed by diverse voices of experience and all sectors, to take local action and advocate for system and policy change to address the root causes of poverty and the elimination of homelessness, as a priority. Visit ppag.media to learn more.
households living in
dwellings considered unsuitable, inadequate or unaffordable. Throughout the year members of Peel Regional Council
have received numerous reports with alarming statistics on the rise of homelessness. Currently there is a 167% rise in
encampments, a 300+% occupancy in the shelter system and additional service supports only meeting 1% of need in
the community.
Media Contact:
Daphna Nussbaum
Program Coordinator and Analyst, Peel Alliance to End Homeless daphna@paeh.ca, 647.461.1383