This Infographic Wednesday, I have designed a new infographic based on the October 16, 2012 Point in Time (PIT) Homeless Count carried out in Red Deer, Alberta. As with all Point in Time Counts, they are unable to count all of those who are provisionally sheltered such as the ‘hidden homeless’ populations. They are also unable to count those who are ‘couch surfing’, staying in a hotel or motel or staying with friends due to lack of housing.
Of the 279 people experiencing homelessness on October 16, 2012, 80 were in shelters, 183 unsheltered and 2 were in jail. The PIT Count Report also highlighted a few important findings from the survey respondents:
- 30% were homeless for at least a year.
- On the night of the count, shelters were running at 87% capacity. The remaining 13% were reserved for specific sub-populations.
- 62.5% of families were homeless due to escaping domestic abuse.
- 44% of those experiencing homelessness in Red Deer are Aboriginal, despite only making up 4.4% of the population.
Since the count, Red Deer has made some headway in addressing homelessness. In June 2013, The City of Red Deer released the Report to the community: Homelessness and affordable housing initiatives detailing work between 2012 and 2013. This includes:
- Housing an additional 127 people with provincial funds (through Alberta’s Outreach and Support Services Initiative).
- 35 youth were provided assistance with federal funding (through the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy).
- This raised the total to 503 individuals who were housed or received on-going support through the above two grants.
A couple of days ago Red Deer elected Tara Veer as mayor, after having served 3 terms in city council. One of the key themes in Tara Veer’s platform was to ‘mobilize our community’. This included increasing the inventory of affordable housing in Red Deer. With enough political support and commitment, it will be possible to end homelessness in Red Deer. That would be an excellent legacy for a new mayor… just saying.
