(Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

Homelessness

Volunteers begin daunting task of surveying Kamloops homeless population

Apr 13, 2023 | 4:13 PM

KAMLOOPS – This year’s point-in-time count started overnight at many of the city’s homeless shelters and continued around the city Thursday (April 13). Volunteers with the City of Kamloops and various local social agencies are surveying the city’s homeless population to get a better understanding of the local situation and the needed support.

Every two years volunteers set out on a mission to record the demographics and number of people experiencing homelessness.

“It helps us tell that story to the province and the federal government of what’s happening here in Kamloops around homelessness,” Natasha Hartson, Community and Emergency Supports Supervisor with the City of Kamloops explained.

Without this count, it would be very difficult to gauge how much support is needed.

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“I don’t think the government knows and the municipality – City of Kamloops — knows how many people we have on the streets in Kamloops,” Bernice Jensen with the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society told CFJC News. “They seem to come and go and we need to provide support.”

The survey has a number of questions, including age, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

“There’s more than just the number of people it talks a little bit about services,” Hartson said. “It asks some demographic questions so we get a little bit of a better understanding of the individuals who are actually experiencing homelessness so that programs and services and support that.”

The last time the count was done, in 2021, the city reported 206 people experiencing homelessness. This year the number is expected to increase.

“Anecdotally, we have been hearing that there are more people in the community so the expectation is that it will be higher,” she said. “However, we won’t know until the data is all collected and tallied.”

Hartson said the full report is expected to be released in the fall and will be used to advocate for demographic-specific social programs and supports.