File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Homelessness in Kamloops

“We do not bring people to the community”: ASK Wellness survey shows Kamloops’ homelessness plight is homegrown

Oct 30, 2020 | 2:41 PM

KAMLOOPS — A recent survey of the Kamloops street-affected population found that the vast majority of respondents have been in Kamloops for more than two years.

ASK Wellness formulated and distributed the survey to homeless individuals, as well as those within the supportive, transitional and temporary housing arrangements operated by both ASK and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

It was meant as a way of determining where those within the street-affected population are coming from.

Of 328 respondents, nearly 83 per cent said they have been in Kamloops for longer than two years. About one-third were born in Kamloops or arrived here during their childhoods.

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Executive Director Bob Hughes says the organization has heard time and time again the rumour that it is bringing homeless people into Kamloops in order to provide them with services. It’s an idea that is commonly spread on social media and other online forums.

He says these results should provide a solid counter to that fictional narrative.

“We really need to provide a response to that narrative,” Hughes told CFJC Today. “It’s hit city council and city staff, who obviously are doing their important work, which is being the ears and the voice of the community. We need to be able to provide an opportunity for the community to go, ‘Aha! I see!'”

If they weren’t from Kamloops, the places of origin for those who are homeless or living in supportive housing varied greatly. ASK says 16 per cent responded they came from out of province, 15 per cent came from other Interior communities, another 15 per cent came from the Lower Mainland and 10 per cent from Northern B.C.

ASK runs programs and housing in other southern Interior communities as well, and they are seeing similar conditions.

Reasons for being in Kamloops also varied. For those who have not been here since birth or childhood, the most popular reason for arriving was to be closer to friends and family, at 38 per cent. Another 18 per cent arrived here for the prospect of employment.

“This is a narrative that isn’t just a Kamloops-centric perspective. You go to Penticton, Kelowna, there’s a belief of, ‘Where did all these people come from?’,” said Hughes. “For better or for worse, the result that we’re seeing from this initial study is that these are people, largely, [who] were born here, they came here for family, they came back to the community because this is what they call home.”

“We, obviously, do not bring people to the community. Every city in this province is drowning in people who are struggling with addictions, mental illness and homelessness, and are creating significant havoc to the sense of safety and security in our cities and in our communities.”

Hughes says this study was not a true academic research project, and such a project may be the next step — with the help of Thompson Rivers University.

“We need to be able to showcase that the housing that is being built here and is operating is for people who have been in this community and have a rightful reason to call Kamloops home,” said Hughes.