A new report from the Guelph-Wellington 20,000 Homes Campaign details the experiences of 295 individuals facing homelessness during a three-day period in April.
The information was collected as part of the 20,000 Homes Campaign, a national movement of communities working together to permanently house 20,000 of Canada’s most vulnerable homeless people by July 1, 2018.
The report was released on July 15 to over 70 community members attending a Housing First 101 event in Guelph led by Wally Czech, director of training for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.
“If a community wants to end homelessness then it needs to approach it as a community and not rely solely on programs,” said Czech.
“Therefore, it is important to take advantage of opportunities to learn as a community how Housing First plays a key role in addressing an issue that impacts everyone.”
Housing First is a recovery-oriented approach to ending homelessness that centres on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services as needed. The Guelph-Wellington 20,000 Homes Campaign has committed to supporting a Housing First approach locally as part of its efforts to end homelessness.
The Guelph-Wellington Registry Week 2016 report indicates that during the week this year, 295 individuals in the community were found to be experiencing homelessness during a three-day period (April 25 to 27).
This includes 14 families, comprised of 15 parents/guardians and 19 dependents. Due to the limitations of point-in-time counts, officials say this number should be considered the minimum number of people experiencing homelessness.
The report also reveals 29% of surveyed individuals were youths between 16 and 24 years, and 71% were adults aged 25 years and older. None of the individuals surveyed were under 16 and the oldest respondent was 73. Overall, the average age of surveyed individuals was 34.5.
Nearly half of youths (46%) reported that they most frequently sleep in an emergency shelter, while a significant number of adults (47%) most frequently couch surf or stay with friends (often referred to as “hidden homelessness”). When asked if they had used an emergency shelter within the past year, 74% of youths and 52% of adults said they had.
A considerable number of youths (69%) and adults (60%) were experiencing chronic homelessness (homeless for six months or more in the past year), while 25% of youths and 30% of adults were facing episodic homelessness (three or more episodes of homelessness within the past year).
A number of youths (18%) and adults (30%) were both chronically and episodically homeless. Analysis demonstrates that 30% of youths and 23% of adult respondents were tri-morbid, meaning they were living with physical health, mental health and substance use issues.
“The response from our community for volunteers for Registry Week was extraordinary,” said Lori Richer, special services manager for the County of Wellington Social Services and co-chair of the 20,000 Homes Leadership Committee.
“In just three days we had over 125 volunteers for 15 survey sites throughout Guelph-Wellington. We need to build on this momentum and continue working together as a community if we are serious about ending homelessness.”
Randalin Ellery, task force coordinator and co-chair of the 20,000 Homes Leadership Committee, added, “Registry Week 2016 was the first time our community collected such detailed information.”
Ellery said the information helps “to prioritize housing supports and services for the most vulnerable,” “humanizes” homelessness and sets a path toward ending it.
