Prince George Community Partners Addressing Homelessness will be hosting a series of events this week to mark B.C. Homelessness Action Week.

The Homeless Connect Day will take place today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Connaught Community Centre, AWAC executive director Marianne Sorensen and Elizabeth Fry Society housing manager Claudette Plante said.

“It’s a special day designed to give people who are homeless an opportunity to access a number of health services under one roof,” Plante said.

In addition to public health and housing services, Plante said they plan to have survival packs to give away and services like haircuts available.

Volunteers will help people fill out forms and provide other services, she added.

“We can use anyone’s gifts and talents. If it’s something that you think would brighten someone’s day, we’d love to have you.”

In addition to the Homeless Connect Day, the Prince George Native Friendship Centre will be holding a pancake breakfast on Thursday and the St. Vincent De Paul Drop-In Centre will be hosting a hotdog lunch on Friday.

The goal of the week is to raise community awareness about the number of people without homes in the city, Plante said.

“Individuals and families of all ages and walks of life have faced homelessness,” she said. “In addition to the visible homeless, there are the hidden homeless who rely on family, friends, acquaintances or even bartering for a place to stay. It’s really bigger than anyone can imagine.”

Poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, family violence, mental illness and catastrophic or chronic illness or injury can all lead to someone not having a home.

“Increasingly (lack of) affordable housing is being recognized as a factor contributing to homelessness,” Plante said.

In Canada nearly 25 per cent of households pay more than 30 per cent of their monthly income for housing, she said.

Sorensen said Canada is the only G8 nation without a national housing strategy. Only five per cent of housing in Canada is social housing, compared with 22 per cent in Britain.

A homeless count in Prince George conducted in May, 2008 revealed 259 self-identified homeless people in the city.

“We know the number of homeless is much greater than 259,” Sorensen said. “We did a quick survey of shelters prior to doing the count and had 1,050 women and youth in shelters. That doesn’t include men or people who weren’t in shelters.”

A second homeless count is planned for May, 2010, she added. The second survey will use a revised survey and organizers hope to reach further outside the downtown area.

“We had great volunteer support, but we could use more.”