The Executive Director of a homelessness advocacy group says a more timely response is what is needed to address the rising incidence of homelessness.

Doug Pawson of End Homelessness St. John’s says while a number of housing initiatives have been announced and will eventually help, they are not being developed fast enough to address people’s needs right now.

Pawson says the current cost of living has driven many into homelessness who have never experienced it before and a delayed response from government does not help.

He says there have been some large scale investments, but they need a more agile and coordinated response from all levels of government to ensure the most vulnerable are being taken care of.