Additionally, they can stimulate the formation of such coalitions with grants. These organizations can improve the state of the homeless people, and work to destruct the reasons why homelessness exists in the first place: "Advocates for the homeless cite systemic reasons for homelessness, such as an inadequate or failing mental health policy, the recent recession, high unemployment rates, and the disappearance of low-income housing."" Agencies against homelessness such as Raising the Roof (Canada's only national charity) and Habitat for Humanity are currently working to rid of homelessness by building homes, however more needs to be done in order for the problem to be completely resolved.
Low-income housing is one of the major problems contributing to homelessness. There is a major lack of low-income housing. There are four problems associated with lack of housing: abandonment, warehousing, gentrification, and conversion of public to private housing. Abandonment is the withholding of funds or services needed to maintain housing. It may take place at the housing-unit level when the landlord stops maintaining the building, or at the neighbourhood level when a reduction in public services is followed by fires or other destruction of housing. Warehousing means keeping a housing unit vacant even though there is a demand for it. Buildings may be warehoused in anticipation of selling at a higher price. Housing units may be left vacant for a long time rather than decreasing the rent. Gentrification is defined in several ways. In general, it is a neighbourhood change associated with a rise in property and land value, and a replacement of poor households by richer ones and/or new business or cultural establishments. At the housing-unit level, it is marked by attempts to force tenants out, by rent increases, and by conversion to cooperatives or condominiums. Finally, conversion of low-income public housing to private housing, usually accessible to middle- or moderate- income households, is another cause of loss of low-income housing which affects to a greater or lesser extent most federally supported low-income housing.
