Whitehorse set to participate in organized homelessness Point-in-Time count this spring.

By March 21, 2016June 7th, 2016News Release

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHITEHORSE SET TO PARTICIPATE IN ORGANIZED HOMELESSNESS POINT-IN-TIME COUNT THIS SPRING

THE POINT-IN-TIME COUNT WILL PROVIDE A SNAPSHOT OF HOMELESSNESS IN WHITEHORSE.

WHITEHORSE (March 21, 2016) – This spring, the Council of Yukon First Nations, Yukon Planning Group on Homelessness, and various volunteers will conduct Whitehorse’s first Point-in-Time (PiT) Homeless Count. This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy.

“There are no exact numbers of the amount of homeless individuals in Whitehorse,” said Grand Chief Massie of Council of Yukon First Nations, “And, broadly speaking, Yukon has some unique challenges to address given the higher cost of living and limited supply and access across the housing continuum. Participation in this nationally coordinated event will provide a snap shot of what homelessness looks like for Whitehorse and establish a base line of information for future PiT counts.”

Over a twenty-four hour period in April, trained volunteers will count and survey individuals who are staying in shelters, living in short-term housing and/or sleeping rough (without shelter). The PiT Count will also include other forms of homelessness, such as people staying temporarily with friends (hidden homeless). By expanding the PiT Count, we will have a better idea of the number of people experiencing homelessness in our community.

Results from the PiT Count will be publically available with the intent to improve our national response to homelessness. In the future, successive counts will allow us to measure progress towards our ultimate goal: a coordinated effort to ending homelessness across Canada.

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For more information:

Homelessness Partnering Strategy Point-in-Time Count

The Canadian Observatory Point-in-Time Count Toolkit

Canadian Definition of Homelessness

Contact information:

Stephanie Brown
Council of Yukon First Nations-Communications
867-393-9223
Communications.officer@nullcyfn.net

Media Participation
The media is invited to contact the Communications Officer at CYFN for more information. Ensuring the safety and anonymity of our participants is our utmost priority. Media will not be invited to accompany PiT Count Volunteers; however, the media will be invited to attend a brief press conference to share the information after the count. A Media Advisory will be issued the day before.

PDF of Press Release-Whitehorse Point-in-Time Count (March 21, 2016)