City Council received the final report on the homeless count conducted in April.
According to coordinator Marcie DeWitt 125 people in Port Alberni were considered homeless, compared to the 147 who were counted at the last study in 2018.
She said there were some limitations to the study this year because of COVID.
“A lot of the services are restricted, so all of those circumstances led to not being able to connect with as many people,” she said. “I don’t think we were able to cast the net quite as wide due to the current pandemic situation.”
She said 95% of people counted have been here for more than a year and 73% have been here for more than 10 years, calling rumours of transience into question.
The percentage of seniors grew from 10 to 18% of the local homeless population, and the percentage of people who identify as Indigenous rose from 48 to 65%.
The recent homeless count in Port Alberni has brought youth poverty issues back into the spotlight.
According to the recent 24-hour, point-in-time survey upwards of 60% of homeless people were in the foster care system, or experienced homelessness first as a youth.
Mayor Sharie Minions says while youth poverty has been overshadowed by the COVID and overdose crisis, it remains a major issue locally.
“It showed the condition of people’s vulnerabilities to be significantly worse,” she said. “For me personally, the most compelling number that was shown was the amount of homeless people currently on the street in Port Alberni who either were homeless for the first time when they were in their youth, or grew up in the foster care system and I think it really speaks to the need to invest in our young people proactively now, to prevent the homelessness of the future.”
Yesterday, City Council allocated $44,500 in UBCM funding to increase programs for young people offered at the Gyro Youth Centre.
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