Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Over 100 residents of Lennox and Addington and Prince Edward counties who are considered homeless or precariously housed took part in what is considered the first homeless enumeration count of its kind in Canada.
Survey questions included current living conditions, history and reasons for homelessness, health issues and more. The survey was conducted over a one-week span through the assistance of 20 service providers such as food banks and health providers.
“This is the first time that the province has mandated (an enumeration count) across the province, within a specific timeframe,” said Marlynne Ferguson, director of Prince Edward-Lennox and Addington Social Services. “It will be a new requirement of service managers going forward on an every -two-year basis.”
In terms of numbers, the response was greater than anticipated.
“Based on our population size, we were aiming to have 70 completed surveys,” said Ferguson. “We had over 100. That doesn’t mean there’s more than 100 homeless individuals, it means they completed the survey. It could be people who maybe their housing situation is precarious. That’s the information that we’re going to get in the next probably two to four weeks once the information is compiled.”
The rural roots of Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington made the counties an ideal location for the groundbreaking survey.
“One of the challenges in a rural community is homelessness isn’t as visibly evident,” said Ferguson. “There may be a lot of folks that are couch surfing or maybe they’re living in the edge of a property in an old barn or they’ve got a trailer park somewhere. It’s easier to be masked in a rural community.”
Once processed, the numbers could play a key role in helping the counties getting the tools they need to help those in need.
“The biggest thing for us is looking at how (the data) feeds into any funding requests we make of the province,” said Ferguson. “In any given year there are any number of funding announcements, generally you have to apply, prepare a proposal. This is just another piece of information that will hopefully support the case for us accessing funds for increased affordable housing or any other supports for housing within the two counties.”