A call for volunteers is out for Regina’s third homeless “point-in-time” count.
Being conducted by Flow Community projects Inc., the count helps determine how many people are experiencing some form of homelessness in the Queen City.
In 2015 the count of people who were homeless in one way or another was 232, it rose to 286 in 2018.
Project Coordinator Addison Docherty, says the information gathered is vital for multiple reasons.
“Once we gather and put together the data you can gain leverage when you advocate for different forms of funds or services for populations that are over represented and things like that,” he said.
Volunteers will be needed to walk the streets in groups of two or three on September 22, between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
“Volunteers will go out into the streets, follow a specific walking route, and ask anyone they see if they would like to participate in an anonymous housing survey,” Docherty said. “With that information collected we get a really good idea what the homlessness situation is like in the community.”
The cutoff date for volunteers is September 14, the best way to sign up or receive more information is by going to flowcommunityprojects.ca.
About 150 volunteers are needed.
Before taking to the streets volunteers will be trained at the mâmawêyatitân centre.
Docherty said they won’t have specifics until all the data has been gathered and analyzed, but with COVID-19 and the challenges the economy is facing, the number could be higher than what was seen in 2018.
The count is being done nation-wide in various sized cities across Canada.
