Homelessness skyrockets in Kamloops
KAMLOOPS — Homelessness continues to be a troubling issue in Kamloops.
The city has reported the results of the first cross-Canada coordinated Point-in-Time (PiT) Homeless Count and it reveals homelessness has skyrocketed 90 per cent in Kamloops since the last count in 2016. There was no count in 2017 in order to align with this year’s national effort.
“We did find more people than we did in 2016. Our methodology and the time of year is much different, however the numbers are much higher,” says Natalie Serl, the city’s acting social and community development supervisor. “In 2016, we found 100 people who were homeless, this year we have 190.”
She says 180 of those people completed a survey and were identified as homeless while the remaining 10 people were dependents who were too young to fill out a survey on their own.