Number of homeless continues to climb

By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader - April 09, 2008

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The latest count is considered conservative as many homeless were either missed or declined to participate.

FILE PHOTO / THE LEADER

Regional homeless numbers are in, and one Surrey councillor wants senior levels of government to take notice.

The number of street homeless in Surrey climbed by 15 per cent in the last three years. The total number of homeless, estimated at 386, is expected to climb as more homeless shelters report their numbers from a 24-hour count on March 11. The count is also admittedly short, as many couch-surfers were missed and many homeless declined to participate.

Coun. Judy Villeneuve said enough is now known that federal and provincial governments need to step up.

“This report has enough numbers to justify taking stronger action,” Villeneuve said, adding the city can’t be expected to solve the problem alone. “They need to see that we can’t deal with it on our own, they have to get back into building housing for people.”

The increase of homeless throughout the region, she said, was noteworthy. The total number of homeless people in Metro Vancouver has climbed nearly 20 per cent since 2005 to 2,592, the initial tabulation of the latest count shows.

The increase isn’t as dramatic as the doubling that took place between 2002 and 2005. But organizers say the number of street homeless without shelter has been growing much faster.

Those who sleep outdoors or couch surf with no consistent place to stay shot up 39 per cent to 1,547 from 1,105 three years earlier.

“This may be why homelessness is much more visible than three years ago,” said Robyn Newton, who headed the 2008 Homeless Count.

Nearly 700 volunteers scoured Metro Vancouver to enumerate the homeless in a 24-hour snapshot conducted March 11. The number of unsheltered street homeless rose in every part of Metro Vancouver.

The largest numbers were the 781 counted in Vancouver (up 32 per cent) and 301 in Surrey (up 15 per cent.)

But street homeless numbers more than doubled in the Tri-Cities (77), Burnaby (77), Delta (11) and the North Shore (67).

While organizers say the numbers are always imperfect and don’t measure the full magnitude of the problem, they believe a bigger volunteer effort helped this time.

The count now also includes people in hospitals or detox centres with no fixed address.

In total, nearly three quarters of the homeless were counted in Vancouver or the Surrey area. The count is considered preliminary still. More homeless shelters still have to send in forms, adding to the 1,045 count of homeless people with shelter.

Advocates hope the count will spur efforts to find regional solutions to homelessness.

“The problem isn’t going away,” said James Pratt of the Greater Vancouver Shelter Strategy. “We need to work harder and work smarter to create real solutions.”

He said improvements to the shelter system have come lately by moving to 24-hour operation of all B.C. Housing-funded shelters.

Similarly, he said, most shelter beds now operate year round –

The real need is to expand affordable housing options so the many people in shelters can get into their own homes.

“So much of the shelter system is jammed up with folks who really shouldn’t be there,” he said. “They just don’t have any other options.”

NDP homelessness critic David Chudnovsky said the dramatic increase in people living right on the street is the most disturbing element.

“We haven’t had a homelessness crisis like this since the Great Depression almost 80 years ago,” he said.

SURREY’S HOMELESS

- On the street: 308

- In shelters: 78

- Total: 386

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Number of homeless continues to climb

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