Unofficial homeless count at 23 Wednesday
Preliminary results from the homeless count on Wednesday night in Medicine Hat indicates more than 20 people were identified as experiencing homelessness, says Medicine Hat Community Housing Society.
“Feedback from PiT Count (Point-In-Time- Count) volunteers and community has been very positive, and we are grateful for the continued support in our efforts to end homelessness in Medicine Hat,” said Jaime Rogers, manager homeless & housing development department MHCHS.
Only unofficial and preliminary numbers are available at this stage.
The number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Medicine Hat in the count is unofficially 23 and does not include two children currently with guardian/parent at MHWSS, said Rogers on Thursday. This is only the street count and the three emergency shelters for the night of April 11, 2018.
“Please note that the preliminary numbers provided ... are incomplete, and we are awaiting for public systems data to come,” said Rogers.
Rogers says those who identified as experiencing homelessness were connected to programs and supports, which is a good indicator the system the community has created to address homelessness is operating effectively.
About a dozen teams walked the streets of Medicine Hat Wednesday night to determine how many people in the community are homeless. Point-In-Time Counts like this are done regularly across the country, and by comparing numbers year-to-year it can indicate a trend in addressing the needs of those who are homeless.
This year, 60 communities in Alberta participated. Counts will be done across Canada in the coming weeks. Alberta previously held counts in the fall but to be consistent with the rest of the country, it switched to April, says Rogers.
Years ago Medicine Hat embarked on a project to end homelessness, but having achieved that goal does not mean nobody is homeless, Rogers said. The project is rather a method of more effectively addressing the needs of those experiencing homelessness.
Each team was assigned a specific route to walk and given a briefing before heading out on the count. They were instructed to approach every person they saw without making any assumptions about whether they are homeless or not and instead ask the question. Anyone identifying as homeless was asked to participate in a survey, which team members completed using an app on their telephones.