Homelessness happens across the province, not just in urban centres.
That’s why the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan is planning a Point-in-Time homelessness count this October they hope will reach more communities in the province.
In previous years, PiT homelessness counts have taken place in city’s like Saskatoon and Prince Albert, but they are not typically province-wide or focused on smaller communities.
The MN-S is now trying to partner with community organizations in 16 different communities across the province to undertake the count and hopefully provide a farther reaching tally.
Mathieu Gaudet, Acting Director of Housing and Homelessnes for the MN-S, says the count is about painting an accurate picture of homelessness across Saskatchewan.
“This isn’t a solution to homelessness,” Gaudet told MBC Radio News. “This is just a tool to help organizations in these communities develop other tools and research, and hopefully get more funding in the future to help prevent homelessness.”
Gaudet feels often homelessness is only discussed as it pertains to the larger centres in the province.
“We see a lot of homelessness in smaller communities and frankly it’s not talked about enough because it exists,” he said. “We figured we should add these communities as a voice to this Pit counts, because they should be.”
The MN-S is currently trying to recruit community organizations in each of the 16 designated communities to help with the count.
Information sessions are planned in the coming weeks with the successful applicants to be determined in August.
The actual Point-in-Time count will then take place in October.