Drop in homeless numbers doesn't mean job is done
Kamloops Daily News, October 12th 2011
The numbers are surprising everyone. On Saturday, volunteers with ASK Wellness Centre combed the city in search of homeless people to document for the 2011 Homeless Count in Kamloops.
They found 45 — less than half the number counted a year ago.
"I was just talking to some B.C. Housing reps about it," said Bob Hughes, ASK's executive director, "and they were like, 'Wow! Really?' "
This is the fourth year Kamloops has counted its homeless population.
Apart from the first year, which included inmates at Kamloops Regional Correctional Central, the count has been done the same way each October.
In 2008, 176 homeless were recorded. In 2009, without the KRCC numbers, the count dropped to 105. Last year, it was 103. Now it's down to its lowest level, at 45 absolute homeless.
"I know as an organization, we're feeling really positive about it, but I think it's much bigger than that," said Hughes, who acknowledges that significantly more community resources have been devoted to homelessness in the last five years.
"I think this is where the community can really take some comfort in the fact that its efforts have resulted in a really positive outcome — everything from the Homelessness Action Plan to the collaboration between non-profit organizations working in the homelessness field," he said.
Tangie Genshorek agrees. She's the head of the Kamloops Homelessness Action Plan and she said she believes the drop in numbers is "partially attributable to the work that has been going on for years by many support agencies and faith organizations, and partially a result of the work of the Homelessness Action Plans in most Canadian cities," she said.
"We can't just solve homelessness in one place, it has to be on the agenda of every municipality, and I believe it is now. More housing is being built all over Canada, and not just any housing but truly supported housing and transitional housing that really meets the needs of some of the hardest to house demographics."
The work is far from over, though.
The 45 people recorded last weekend are the "absolute homeless" — those who live on the streets or riverbanks around Kamloops.
There are countless "hidden homeless" who go unnoticed every year because they exist out of public view. They are the 'couch surfers' who rotate among temporary housing with friends, family or strangers.
There are also untold numbers of people who are at risk of homelessness because their current shelter is not safe, secure or affordable. Seniors on fixed incomes and the working-poor can fall easily into this category.
Why are people homeless?
Everyone who is homeless has his or her own story, but often the underlying cause of homelessness is linked to lack of income, affordable housing, and access to health care, social or addictions support services.
Where do homeless people get money to eat?
People without a fixed address can still receive $235 in social assistance each month (the $375 shelter portion is withheld).
Those who don't turn to prostitution or other illegal activities for additional income, often turn to "binning," searching dumpsters, alleys and other sites for empty bottles and cans for refunds.
Some panhandle for extra change.
In all cases, it is unlikely the welfare recipient reports the extra money, as it would be deducted from the $235.
Finding right partners key, says homelessness advocate
Kamloops Daily News October 12, 2011
The next crucial step in continuing the march toward ending homelessness in Kamloops is to partner up with the right service providers for four sites identified for affordable housing, says an advocate for a similar program in Vancouver.
Dick Vollet, president and CEO of Streetohome, told about 30 community leaders Tuesday that Kamloops is ahead of many cities on the homelessness issue and “the next step is to find the right partners for those four sites.”
City council approved the sites earlier this year to develop affordable housing options.
The Kamloops Homelessness Action Plan hosted Tuesday’s luncheon to kick off Homelessness Action Week.
Vollet, whose group is working on eight affordable-housing projects in Vancouver, said, “One group you really need to involve in the decisions is the service providers, the people who are going to operate the facilities day in and day out.”
He said an essential ingredient in such housing is inclusion of meal service in each facility to avoid an increase in theft or panhandling in the immediate neighbourhood.
“Nutrition is key.”
Vollett also stressed the importance of research in order to illustrate the issue for the community, and to avoid “data denial” and exclude politics from the discussion.
Otherwise, he said, the process becomes dominated by “all those naysayers who say, ‘We’ll never solve homelessness, it’ll always be with us.’”
In Vancouver, 2,600 people have been identified as homeless, and 80 per cent of them have a mental illness. Youth are the hardest demographic to count, he said.
“The biggest thing is just identifying the problem,” Vollett said.
Dolly's Story: 40 years of addiction led woman to lowest point
Kamloops Daily News October 12th 2011
By Catherine Litt
Daily News Staff Reporter
Daily News Staff Reporter
She wonders if they think of her.
It's been four years since she plunged a heroin needle into her veins, four years since she pulled the toxic smoke of crack cocaine deep into her lungs, and she wonders — dreams — about a day when her children will forgive her.
"All I can do for them now," said Dolly, "is, every day, my gift to them is to be clean and sober."
This past weekend, volunteers with ASK Wellness Centre combed the streets of Kamloops, counting the city's homeless.
They found 45 absolute homeless people — men and women who are living on the streets.
That was Dolly four years ago.
At her lowest point, she was sleeping under a tree, not far from where she works today at New Life Mission, prostituting to make enough money to buy drugs, doing everything her university-educated mind knew was wrong but was powerless to stop.
"I just lived a life of addiction," said the 57-year-old former Alberta resident. "And it's just, you know, you have one thing and one thing only, the drugs. I lost my children, I lost my husband, lost everything."
How does someone become homeless? For Dolly, it was the drugs that gradually pulled her off course. For others, it's mental illness, job loss or a tragedy so insurmountable it derails an otherwise normal life.
Dolly knew she had hit rock bottom after she moved to Kamloops to get clean, but couldn't, and ended up truly homeless for nine months, sickly thin and selling herself for sex.
"When you're 52 years old and cracked out at 85 pounds . . ." she said, "I mean, I looked . . . I was . . . I was a piece of nothing. I couldn't look at people anymore."
Ken Salter coordinates the annual Homelessness Count in Kamloops. He was among 40 volunteers who searched known areas of town on Saturday recording the number of people living outside just as Dolly used to.
Many homeless stay in makeshift camps along the river below Schubert Drive. Fifteen people were found living there on Saturday.
"It's one of the popular spots," said Salter, an outreach worker with ASK Wellness Centre. "Anywhere on the riverbank will do."
The riverbank is popular because it provides seclusion for camping and for hiding belongings, and the river itself provides an unlimited water source for cooking and bathing.
"Mainly what I see out there," said Salter, of the causes of homelessness, "is a combination of mental illness and addictions. And a lot of that, I think, has to do with the lack of access to doctors. When they have a mental illness that's not being managed by a doctor, they tend to manage it themselves; they mask the symptoms by using illicit substances."
Dolly is now clean and sober, thanks to her determination and the help she received from New Life Mission.
She's no longer homeless — she has her own bachelor apartment — but she is surrounded daily by reminders of her time on the streets. Each day, on her way to work at the mission, she walks past the tree she used to sleep under. When she arrives at work, she sees the faces of men and women who are still living that life.
As National Homelessness Action Week reaches the midweek mark, Dolly is counting her blessings and praying for those who haven't been so lucky.
She's off the streets and reclaiming her life one day at a time, finding purpose in her job at New Life Mission's outreach centre, where she cleans tables for the daily lunches and helps distribute free clothing and bread to those in need.
"This place is just magic for me," she said. "It's God's magic. The hand of God is all over this place. It's given me everything."
She is certain one day she will be reunited with her children.
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