Pilot targets homeless youth

Thursday, November 22nd, Kamloops Daily News

Kingston, Ont., and Kamloops have more than just the letter K in common. 

They are the only two Canadian communities that have been chosen for pilot projects involving youth homelessness. 

Homelessness Action Plan coordinator Tangie Genshorek said Wednesday that being a pilot community means a wealth of resources will be made available so a better idea of the youth homelessness situation can be determined in Kamloops. 

“The youth are fast becoming a concern, especially those aging out of the ministry system,” she said. 

“Once they reach 19, they’re on their own.” 

Youth are defined as 15 to 24. Despite the annual homeless count being held for several years now, there hasn’t been a breakdown on that age group. 

Genshorek said the project will take about a year and involves a national co- ordinator travelling around Canada to the participating communities to help with research and share information from other cities. 

“It’s a start and that’s important. For the HAP in Kamloops, it’s really big because we’ll have that national support. I’m really excited we’ll have support and be able to feed into other communities across Canada and find out what they’re doing,” she said. 

Having solid information will help to obtain funding or grants down the road, she said.

Carmin Mazzotta, City project manager for housing and homelessness, said homeless youth have been identified as a concern in reports, research and by frontline workers in the community. 

“This is a great opportunity for us to do more research and identify the scope of the need so we can tackle the issue,” he said. 

The project will run through the year in 2013, at the end of which there should be some strategies and plans mapped out to help homeless youth. 

One of the reasons Kamloops was chosen was because the groups that deal with the homeless work well together, he said. 

“They noticed our community partnerships. One real issue in a lot of communities is you have a lot of agencies working on their own,” said Mazzotta. 

There was a survey taken last July that saw 42 youth who were at risk of becoming homeless asked if they had ever been without housing. Seventeen said yes. 

Many of those surveyed admitted they had mental health or addiction issues as well.
“They’re an extremely vulnerable population,” he said. 

“One of the issues is there’s no particularly youth- dedicated or supported housing.”

Coming in from the cold as the mercury drops

By Andrea Klassen - Kamloops This Week
Published: November 08, 2012

With overnight temperatures still in the single digits, organizers at Kamloops' cold weather shelter weren't expecting a busy start when they opened their program on Nov. 4.

But, in its first two nights of operation, the Out of the Cold program at St. Paul's Cathedral is already seeing the kind of guest numbers it typically gets when the mercury plummets to below zero.

"It's kind of shocking because it's not that cold out yet and, typically, our shelter's more for the people that usually sleep outside and then come in when it's really cold," program co-ordinator Sasha Smode said.

Out of the Cold runs Sundays and Wednesdays at St. Paul's Cathedral, 360 Nicola Street, and on any other night when the temperature drops below -10 C.

The shelter runs from 7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. and provides guests with a hot dinner and breakfast, as well as a place to socialize and sleep.

On the first Sunday of the season, 18 people showed up for the evening meal and 12 stayed at the shelter for the full night. Because the shelter locks its door at 10 p.m., Smode said some guests choose to grab a few hours of sleep and leave for the night.

"It's a lot of new faces," she said. "Typically, I know the majority of our guests by name."
Smode said there seems to be more elderly and young people using the program, which is organized by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, as well as more women.

"Typically, we get way more males than females but, this year, too, there were more females that have been coming in and actually staying," she said.

"It's a change."
For the past several years, numbers at the shelter were on the decline.

In 2009, the average number of people using Out of the Cold was 17, compared to 14 in 2010 and about 13 in 2011.

Smode said she's not sure why demand for the shelter seems to be starting earlier this year, but Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) executive director Doug Sage said the program may be picking up people who can't find a bed at Emerald Centre.

The 35-bed emergency shelter on Victoria Street West — operating in the former Rendezvous Hotel location — is consistently full, Sage said.

"I think the reason they're seeing these people is that there's no room with us, so my hunch is that it's going to be a busy year for everybody."

Sage said the CMHA shelter is also seeing a number of new faces, but it's not clear if they are transients moving through the city on their way to warmer locales or permanent residents.

He also suspects that, as Kamloops' homeless population ages, people who have chosen to sleep outdoors as much as possible in the past are starting to come in.

"The older they are, the more difficult it is to be in colder weather," Sage said.

Environment Canada's forecast for this weekend calls for much colder temperatures, with lows of -4 C to -7 C expected on Saturday, Nov. 10, and Sunday, Nov. 11.

With a potentially busy winter looming, Smode is calling for more volunteers to help out with Out of the Cold, as well as donations of winter boots, gloves, hats and socks.

Donations can be dropped off at St. Paul's Cathedral downtown or at the St. Vincent de Paul Society at 168 Briar Ave.

To volunteer, contact Maybelle at 250-376-4161.

BASS: Rather than count homeless, we should confront apathy

By Dale Bass - Kamloops This Week
Published: November 08, 2012 8:00

Virtually any code of ethics of any journalistic organization will include something that says reporters do not comment on the subjects they cover.

For example, the ethics guidelines of the Canadian Association of Journalists, for which I am chair, includes this: “We lose our credibility as fair observers if we write opinion pieces about subjects we also cover as reporters.”

That means, for example, court reporters don’t write columns on the legal system and city hall reporters don’t file columns on municipal government.

I point this out because this column is on a news article I wrote this week due to the absence of our news reporter and the need for the story to be covered.

It’s the scourge of a newsroom with a small staff; sometimes it just happens.
Ordinarily, I do not cover homelessness.

I did that once, a decade ago, in a series of articles for KTW, but have left it to other reporters since then.

Writing the story on the recent homeless count in Kamloops was frustrating. 

As I told Homeless Action Plan (HAP) co-ordinator Tangie Genshorek at the start of the interview, the annual count is now irrelevant. 

She knew that — we’ve had this conversation many times — but, as a reporter, it was appropriate to remind her of my bias.

Hence this column.

It is time to end the annual street- and shelter-wandering event. 

As Genshorek said, when it was first done, it was as much to start a conversation on homelessness as it was to find out how many people live in that state in our city.

That was seven years ago and, since then, every year except 2011 has shown there are about 100 homeless people the volunteers can find.

It’s never a true number, but a best-guess snapshot only.

Research, experience and other criteria esablished by agencies dictate that, to find the hidden homeless, you essentially triple the number of those counted.

Mayor Peter Milobar has suggested, as has Genshorek, that to truly obtain a provincial view of the numbers of largely transient folks, homeless counts throughout B.C. should be done on the same day. 

They both said they plan to lobby for that change. 

They both said they also think the counts perhaps don’t need to be done annually.
We know there are homeless people in Kamloops — lots of them. 

That baseline has been established.

Rather then spending money and manpower reinventing the wheel, as my mother would say, let’s acknowledge there is a baseline, an understanding of the size of the issue.

And, let’s also accept that, despite everything that’s been done in the past years — more transitional housing, more shelter space, new programs, more affordable housing — it hasn’t been enough.

Let’s skip the annual report to the community HAP must do. 

If you ever go to one, you’ll know it’s just telling the people who already know and care what they already know and care about.

The series of articles in 2002 generated an overwhelming outpouring of donations, to the point the back area of our building was starting to look like a warehouse of clothes, sleeping bags and blankets.

A recent poll in KTW asked if Kamloopsians have or plan to do anything to help the homeless. 

More than three-quarters who responded said no.
That is stunning — and appalling.
It is shameful.

And, that fact is what HAP and the other social agencies should be addressing, rather than doing counts.

The solution?
I wish I knew. 

But it’s not spending hours and who knows how much money planning to do a count that really doesn’t ever change much and isn’t remotely accurate.

Dale Bass is a reporter with Kamloops This Week.

Mayor seeks same-day homeless counts

By Dale Bass - Kamloops This Week
Published: November 05, 2012 4:00 PM
Updated: November 05, 2012 4:29 PM
 
Mayor Peter Milobar was surprised to learn homeless counts aren’t done on the same day in the province.

It just makes sense, he said, to do that when trying to create a census of a transient population.

It’s a view Tangie Genshorek, co-ordinator of the city’s Homelessness Action Plan, agrees would make sense.

She plans to lobby for the change and also encourage a move away from an annual count.
“When we started this,” Genshorek said, “it was as much about starting the conversation as it was getting an idea of the numbers.”

With several years of data collected and the issue getting increased attention, she’s not sure taking the annual snapshot is worth the time or money involved.

This year’s count found 99 homeless people in Kamloops, with 54 sleeping in shelters and the rest outdoors somewhere.

Seventy-three per cent said if they could find and afford housing, they would be in it.
In fact, said  Genshorek, only one person counted during the census said he chose to live on the street — “and I don’t believe him,” she said.

Last year, the annual count tallied up 45 people, half the number counted in 2010.
In 2009, volunteers counted 103 homeless people in the city.

Genshorek said she prefers to compare this year’s number with the one in 2005, the last time the same criteria used in October was used for the count. That year, True Consulting, using provincially accepted protocols and methods, found 104 people. 

Broadening the view, a statistic developed by the Social Planning and Research Council through a variety of means — including random phone calls and focus groups — determined 1,167 hidden homeless in the city and another 183 living in transitional housing, bringing the actual total to 1,449.

Breaking down the snapshot statistics, gathered during the two-day count last month, shows there are:

• 59 men, 24 women and nine children homeless, with another seven people for whom no gender was recorded;

• 52 per cent of the men between the ages of 40 and 59;
• 46 per cent of the women between the ages of 30 and 39;
• 35 per cent who have been homeless for up to six months;
• 55 per cent who have lived in Kamloops for more than a year;
• 33 per cent who report having a mental illness or other medical condition.

Milobar said the city has tried to work to assist with construction of affordable housing and to provide support to the many social agencies in the city involved with the homeless segment.
And, while he said he’s not sure how valid the actual statistic generated from the count is, “at its core, it is still very important to show there is a need. It provides us with a reference point.”

Homelessness count finds more kids, women

• 3 Nov 2012
• Kamloops Daily News
• By MICHELE YOUNG Daily News Staff Reporter

Demographics changing, says action plan co- ordinator

The 99 people found in this year’s Kamloops homelessness count is just the tip of an iceberg that is probably closer to 1,149. 

Tangie Genshorek, Homelessness Action Plan co- ordinator, said Friday she wasn’t surprised at this year’s results, which showed 59 men, 24 women and nine children without homes. Seven others were counted but their gender wasn’t recorded. 

What she did find disturbing was the children living in shelters. 

“The number of nine children, I can’t get over that. It just makes me want to cry,” she said.
“That’s absolutely unacceptable. And the idea there are 24 women, most have just become homeless. Most of them have always lived in Kamloops.” 

Seven years ago, the count was at 104. But the slight decline didn’t give Genshorek reason to celebrate. The number of women and children is rising. 

“The demographics are changing. We’re finding more and more women, more and more children, more and more people who haven’t been homeless before. People on the edge are slipping.” 

There are different types of homeless people; the annual count includes those in shelters and those who can be found in makeshift camps and on the streets. It doesn’t include those in temporary housing in town — Kamloops has 183 units — nor are those who don’t want to be found counted. 

That’s where the 1,149 estimate comes from. Genshorek said it’s down slightly from 2010, when it was at 1,167. “I’m confident in that number,” she said. So what puts them on the streets? “The economy and more than two decades of lack of creation of affordable housing,” she said. 

“We need standard market housing with an affordable threshold of payment. Our rents in Kamloops are about the same in Vancouver, almost.” 

The $ 850 being charged for a one- bedroom apartment in Kamloops is impossible for someone on welfare to pay. A single person gets $ 375 for housing allowance out of a monthly $ 610. 

Rental housing is too expensive for private developers to get into, so no one has built any new units for years, she noted. 

That’s why Genshorek was in Ottawa last week, asking the federal finance committee to create a tax incentive for developers to build a range of affordable housing. 

“It was a positive response,” she said, adding Kamloops MP Cathy McLeod has been championing the cause. “It’s been proposed for the budget for next year.” 

A similar tax incentive exists in the U. S. that has prompted the creation of rental units at a variety of prices. They are capped at an affordability level for a long period of time, such as 30 years, she said. 

Genshorek said she’ll be releasing another study late this month that looks at the need and demand for affordable housing in Kamloops. Those numbers will help guide KamPlan, which the City is beginning to update. 

myoung@ kamloopsnews. ca
@ MicheleYoungKDN