Point-in-time count finds 85 percent of Whitehorse's homeless population identify as Indigenous

Tuesday, 24 August 2021 14:13

By Dylan MacNeil

Kate Mechan briefs media on the third point-in-time count in Shipyards Park, Whitehorse.

The Reaching Home Community Advisory Board and the Safe at Home Society released the stats today.

85 percent of homeless people in Whitehorse identify as Indigenous.

That’s according to the newly released results of the third point-in-time homeless count, conducted by the Reaching Home Community Advisory Board and the Safe at Home Society on April 13^th and 14^th.

“We have a serious over representation of indigenous people experiencing homelessness,” said Executive Director of the Safe at Home Society and Chair of the Community Advisory Board, Kate Mechan, speaking to media this morning.

The count shines light on barriers people face to accessing housing, such as discrimination and affordability.

“The fact that people are being discriminated because of where they come from, because of their history of housing here, because of mental health, physical health issues, and really any other thing is inexcusable. And so, I would like to encourage us all to be pushing back against racism, to be speaking our minds, and having more welcoming neighbourhoods,” says Mechan.

The count also found that at least 151 people were homeless during a 24-hour period. Five people were unsheltered and living on the street, in vehicles, public spaces, or tents. 38 people were emergency sheltered at one of the three local shelters.

108 individuals were accommodated in transitional housing, in a hotel or motel, staying at someone else’s place or in a public institution such as the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, the Whitehorse General Hospital, or in programming at Mental Wellness & Substance Use Services.

13 percent of respondents experienced housing loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 52 percent of people surveyed reported that they had been homeless for a full 12 months and another 17 percent reported being homeless for between six and 12 months.

Mechan says the Reaching Home Community Advisory Board is committed to seeing an end to chronic homelessness by 2027 to 2028.

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