Red Deer man, 65, recounts path into homelessness while awaiting CPP boost
A new rdnewsNOW series produced with Hope Mission profiles people living at Red Deer's emergency shelter, starting with a man who lost stable housing after his mother entered a nursing home.
Why it matters
The account shows how a single change in caregiving or living arrangements can push someone with a fixed income into homelessness, underscoring the pressures facing Red Deer's shelter system ahead of the planned Project Nexus campus.
Brad McEwen, 65, is the subject of the first installment in rdnewsNOW's four-part "More Than A Number" series on homelessness in Red Deer, produced with interviews facilitated by Hope Mission, which operates the city's emergency shelter. McEwen said he has experienced homelessness roughly a dozen times in his life, with his latest stretch beginning this summer after his mother's living arrangements changed, ending nearly a decade of him helping care for her. His monthly income of $471 was not enough to cover rent on his own, and he is now waiting for an increase to his CPP payments that came with turning 65.
McEwen described sleeping outside on a bus bench in temperatures as low as -20 last winter, saying life without housing revolves around finding the next meal and staying warm. He struggled with a crack addiction for close to 30 years before getting clean with support from friends, family, faith and social agencies. He said mental health challenges remain a major barrier keeping some shelter residents from prioritizing finding housing, calling it a choice some people are not able to make.
McEwen said he was unaware of Project Nexus, a planned social care and emergency shelter campus slated for an industrial area on Red Deer's north end, with its first phase — a Hope Mission-operated shelter — expected to open in 2027. He expressed concern about the project's distance from downtown, saying he worries about segregating people who, in his words, are still someone's son or daughter and part of a family.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.