Advocates plan for point-in-time homeless count in Whitehorse

A call is out for volunteers to help the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition undertake an ambitious project — taking a thorough, accurate survey to find out how many people in Whitehorse don't have a place to live, within one 24-hour period.

The "point-in-time" count is part of a larger, Canada-wide initiative to quantify, and reduce, homelessness. Communities have been asked to complete their counts by the end of April.

"We've got a long way to go," said Bill Thomas of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition. 

"It's quite a challenge for us to get enough volunteers in order to do this."

The Whitehorse survey will be done between noon on April 13, and noon the following day. Thomas estimates needing about 40 to 50 trained volunteers to get the job done. 

"It's more than just collecting data. It's also, there's a sensitivity there. You have to try to establish a relationship with the person that you're talking to. So, that's part of the training."

'Who are we talking about?'

Thomas believes the information collected will help governments and organizations figure out the best ways to tackle homelessness and understand the challenges.

"We're all concerned about, 'who are we talking about?'

"If we find out that there are 30 or 40 people that are homeless, that's one thing, if we find out that it's 100 to 150, then that gives a whole other message in terms of the seriousness of the situation.

A community barbeque is also planned for April 14, as a "magnet event" to possibly attract people who hadn't been surveyed the day before.

"We've got all kinds of challenges in doing [the count], but it'll get done," Thomas said.

A similar point-in-time count in Yellowknife last year identified 139 people as homeless — a figure the organizer acknowledged was quite small. Some critics in the city blasted the survey method saying it wasn't a homelessness count, but "a count of how many people attended a barbecue and filled out a survey."