Whatever the results reveal of the homeless count conducted over two days last week, don’t assume the final number is totally accurate.
That’s not me being grumpy.
It’s just a fact — that despite more than 400 volunteers taking to the streets and shelters, not every homeless person will be counted.
“We’re pretty confident that we’re getting a good picture,” said Ethel Whitty, the city’s director of homelessness services, of the 24-hour snapshot. “Of course, it’s an under count. It’s got to be a bit of an under count. We’re not going to say we’ll find every single person.”
But, as Whitty explained, the city spent a lot of time preparing for the count, working with experienced outreach teams across the city that resulted in 150 area maps to pinpoint homeless people.
When volunteers do find people, the objective is not to just count a head and move on to find the next person. If possible, volunteers will speak to the person, record their gender, age, health issues, how long they’ve been homeless and any personal history that gives the city a better sense of the type of people on the street.
Whitty acknowledged that her first thought years ago when she heard about the homeless count was that it would likely be invasive for the person being counted.
She discovered otherwise.
“In fact, it’s quite the opposite,” she said. “People want to tell you what’s happening with them. We have people who call our office every year after the count and say, ‘I was out there and no one approached me, and I want to be counted.’”
Last year, volunteers who participated in a Metro Vancouver count, which included Vancouver, recorded 1,803 homeless people in the city. More than 1,200 were in a shelter and 536 on the street.
Some of the homeless included sex trade workers.
Kate Gibson, the executive director of the WISH drop-in centre for women in the sex trade, said six women she spoke to at the facility last Monday identified as homeless.
Of 33 other women she spoke to, 11 told her they didn’t feel safe in their current housing arrangement. “Which is telling in itself,” said Gibson, noting another question asked of the women is if they have to barter or trade for their room.
Both Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Coun. Kerry Jang, who participated in this year’s count, said they noticed more young people on the street and in shelters than previous years.
Last year’s count revealed the number of homeless people 25 years old or younger increased from 14 per cent, or 194, in 2012 to 21 per cent, or 255, in 2014.
Young aboriginals were over represented in this category.
The largest group of people counted last year was between 35 and 54 years old. They accounted for 46 per cent, or 551 people without a home.
The vast majority were men.
Addiction issues, a medical condition and mental health concerns were prevalent in many of the homeless people who shared details of their lives.
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As I reported last week, housing activists in the Downtown Eastside are worried more people are ending up on the street because landlords of single-room-occupancy hotels are renovating rooms and then jacking up rents.
On Monday, several non-profits issued a challenge to the provincial government to increase the $375 per month shelter rate for people on income assistance.
The non-profits, including the Atira Women’s Resources Society and the Aboriginal Front Door, noted that April 1 will mark eight years since the last increase to welfare rates.
Single people on welfare in B.C. receive $610 a month, which includes the $375 for housing. As activists pointed out last week in their report that surveyed rents at private single-room hotels, more than 2,400 rooms were going for $425 per month or more. Another 445 rooms in nine hotels charged $700 and up.
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