Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

Transients in Kamloops

Transient population brings challenges to Kamloops community

Jul 9, 2019 | 5:25 PM

KAMLOOPS — Like the first robin, or dandelions popping up on your lawn there are sure signs spring and summer have arrived. One of those is an increase in the transient population in our city, and those people come to Kamloops for a variety of reasons. While some stay and others go, they bring a range of issues that the community needs to address.

As the rivers rise, the homeless population who had been living outdoors congregate around certain service providers within the city. This shift can often reveal new members of that community.

“We’ve seen probably 45 new faces since the month of April,” Diane Down, Managing Director of the Mustard Seed New Life Community says.

The North Shore Business Improvement Association says they haven’t noticed a massive influx of new people who are experiencing homelessness. However, Executive Director Jeremy Heighton believes changes in the neighborhood have shifted where that population gathers.

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“What we’re seeing is differences in congregation points,” Heighton explains. “Some people may have seen populations hanging out over here, where now they’re hanging out over there.”

According to Down, there are a variety of reasons these individuals come to Kamloops.

“Some folks, we know they arrive because they need a fresh start, something’s happened in their prior place of living,” Down suggests. “We’ve had some unemployment, we’ve had some feeling of violence, we’ve had some new addicts coming to town. There’s never any one answer as to why folks come — nor as to why they stay or leave.”

For Heighton and members of the NSBIA, their frustration stems from individuals who cause problems for others within their community.

“The people who are petty criminals and are taking advantage of the situation, those I have very little empathy for, and our members have very little empathy for,” Heighton says. “Only by working together with the criminal justice system and with civic by-laws and municipal governments can we really hope to come to any kind of solution.”

For Heighton, he hopes residents of Kamloops can find perspective when it comes to the issues of people experiencing homelessness.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“We have to keep things in perspective sometimes, because… we can overplay some of the issues we’re experiencing,” Heighton says. “We think ‘Oh my God, it’s just happening here.’ But it’s happening in a lot of places, and only by coming together can we solve anything.”

While Down says for her and many other service providers, empathy is the key.

“For us, it’s love,” Down says. “Our motivation is love, and we’re going to serve whoever walks through our door, and we’re going to ask the folks of our community to be generous.”