Brandon homelessness count sees sharp increase in number

Southwestern Manitoba's biggest city has seen a jump in people experiencing homelessness since 2021, a new report suggests, and advocates warn more people are ending up on the streets. 

Brandon's point-in-time homelessness count, which took place over 24 hours in October 2024, giving a snapshot of homelessness in the city, identified 229 people without homes.

That's up by 100 people compared to 2021, a 77 per cent increase, said Rushana Newman, executive director of the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation.

"We are still seeing the effects of the pandemic," Newman said.

"Persons are struggling mentally, physically, emotionally, financially.… All these struggles, like, it gives rise to more homelessness."

Brandon's homeless individuals and families information system, a database that tracks homelessness in Brandon, recorded more than 910 people experiencing homelessness in 2024, an increase of around 200 people since 2023.

During the point-in-time count, 50 volunteers worked within a zone bounded by First Street, 15th Street, Pacific Avenue and McTavish Avenue.

Their goal was to find those who "have nowhere to go except maybe the shelter downtown," Newman said.

"This snapshot captures those who we actually see on the street."

The information gathered through the point-in-time count, which was released Thursday, is used to help the government and other funders allocate money to communities, Newman said. The count typically happens every two years, although there was a three-year gap since the last one, which was impacted by the pandemic.

Heather Symbalisty, executive director of Samaritan House Ministries, which runs Brandon's only year-round overnight shelter, says they continue to have busy nights.

The Safe and Warm shelter had 540 distinct individuals stay in 2024, a 13 per cent increase from 2023 and a 46 per cent increase from 2021.

The 41-bed shelter consistently sees around 50 people visit for sleeping accommodations and a meal each night in the winter, Symbalisty said.

Since the start of January, they've had to turn away approximately 26 people because the shelter was full, she said.

"It's the worst feeling in the world … especially when it's really cold out," Symbalisty said.

While they can refer people to the city's temporary overnight shelter, it hasn't had a big impact on the number of people they see each night.

Cost of living crisis

Symbalisty expects the city will continue to see more people experiencing homelessness because there is a cost of living crisis — rent is more expensive, groceries are costly and people are struggling to get by, she said.

"People are just scrambling," Symbalisty said.

"Just trying to make basic rent is challenging in these times, so yeah, I think that this is just the start. I think that this summer and the fall will show even more."

A survey commissioned by the provincial government in 2024 suggested Manitobans were increasingly worried about the cost of living. The top source of concern among the poll's 800 respondents was the rising cost of items such as housing, food and gasoline, with 81 per cent saying they were worried — up from 78 per cent and 71 per cent in two polls the previous year.

Newman said steps are being taken to help end homelessness in the community.

The Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation runs the Ask Auntie project, which launched in 2021 to help unhoused people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and evolved to include the Blue Door Project, a daytime drop-in shelter.

In 2024, they also helped open two safe homes for women in the city through the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness project.

The project researched the factors that lead to homelessness and how to help through interviews with more than 100 people living on the streets of Brandon.  

Newman said one of the takeaways from the project is that a lot of new faces are migrating to the city from rural spaces. The point-in-time count includes a survey, and of the 92 people who answered the questions, 77 were not originally from Brandon, including 33 who had been in Brandon for three years or less.

Issues with mental health, addiction and access to affordable housing need to be addressed if Brandon wants its homeless numbers to start coming down, Newman said.

"We can't do the things that we're doing right now and expect to see great increases or improvements," she said.

"The solution to housing is not shelters, it's housing.... We need housing units and we need affordable housing."