FOR THE MOST PART, ITS NOT FUN AND GAMES. - HOMELESSNESS AND RECREATION

Homelessness is a persistent problem even in wealthy nations. Shelters for the homeless and aligned service agencies attempt to go beyond si mply providing temporary housing and try to help their clients secure some measure of stability in their lives and to ultimately enable them to escape homelessness. Increasingly, recreation is seen as a means o f assisting the homeless to cope with their condition, to improve the quality of their lives, to maintain affiliations within their communit ies and to provide encouragement and initiative. To illustrate the ext ent to which recreation services are available to the homeless, a surv ey of over a hundred shelters across Canada was conducted. Most shelte rs offer a variety of recreation opportunities to their clients, rangi ng from swimming and bowling to cards. These activities take place in community recreation centres, commercial venues or in the shelters the mselves. Shelters hope that recreation participation will serve to cou nter the demoralizing effects of homelessness and help the homeless st ay connected to the wider community. As well, recreation is seen to ha ve therapeutic value in assisting the homeless return to normalcy. Mor e extensive research is required to determine which kinds of recreatio n programs are most beneficial to particular homeless groups under dif ferent circumstances.