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Female homeless population in PG highlights Point In Time Homeless Count

This year’s Point In Time Homeless Count in Prince George uncovered some disturbing trends in our homeless population.

Eleven agencies were surveyed by 25 volunteers who took part in the initiative led by the United Way of Northern BC back in April.

One gender saw a substantial spike from the year prior.

“The number of respondents who are homeless that are women went up by eight percent over last year, we’re looking at 50% of respondents who are female compared to the last time the point in time was done so that’s a concern,” says Roberta Squire, United Way of Northern BC CEO.

Compared to the last homeless count that was conducted a couple of years ago, where there were more men between the ages of 30 and 50 living on the street, Squire noticed the median the age go up this time around.

“Our median age jumped up from 44 to 46.5 so that is a concern and I think that might speak to the number of people displaced from last year’s wildfires where we had people come up and just never left.”

“And I think those were the younger group because they could find their way up here since they had transportation and they’ve never left or they just found it that they feel safer here. Those are concerns and it’s about reaching those individuals, which is going to be difficult because we found that even though we changed when we did the survey from first thing in the morning to 6:30 at night a lot of people did not want to participate in the survey.”

While they were not pleased with the uptick in the number of women and youth without a home, Squire adds there was one positive that stood out.

“There was almost double if not more than double the amount of individuals in transitional housing, meaning that they are already in the process and have already received some help, even though it is temporary they are on that road to permanent housing.”

Other notable findings uncovered that 45% of participants had been in foster care or group homes while 34% first became homeless before their 18th birthday.

“We need to maybe attract those youth differently and maybe attack them differently or deal with their situations differently than we would have before, the aboriginal count has also gone up and we’re going to have to sit with some chiefs and discuss that because it would be a massive concern for them.”

Of the 150 people who responded, 14% of them stayed outdoors the night before, while 44% slept in emergency shelters.

Of those surveyed:

79% identified themselves as indigenous descent
48% of respondents are between the ages 25-44, 43% 45-64, 7% under the age of 25, 2% older than 65 and 3% had served in the RCMP or Military.

The findings will be part of a final report at the end of the month and will be presented to council and other groups.

Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Brendan Pawliw
Brendan Pawliw
Since moving to Prince George in 2015, Brendan has covered local sports including the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Prince George Spruce Kings, UNBC Timberwolves, Cariboo Cougars AAA, and Northern Capitals U18 female hockey teams. Career highlights include play-by-play during the Spruce Kings' BCHL championship runs in 2018 and 2019, including the Doyle Cup win. He also covered the 2019 National Junior A Championship, the 2017 Telus Cup, the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship, and the 2022 BC Summer Games. Brendan is the news voice on 94.3 The Goat and Country 97 FM, reporting on crime, real estate, labour, and environmental issues. Outside of work, he officiates box lacrosse and fastball, sits on the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame board, and co-hosts the Hockey North podcast.

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