City of Yellowknife plans homeless count to better services

The City of Yellowknife wants a better idea of how many homeless people there are in the city, and where they sleep at night.

On May 13, the city will conduct a point-in-time countdesigned to offer a snapshot of sheltered and unsheltered homeless peopleand helpbetter tailorservices for them.

The recent death of a Yellowknife streetperson, Raymond Simpson, whose body was found in an alleyway on April 3, underscores the need for the count, says Deputy Mayor Linda Bussey.

"We have excellent services and programs and people providing care," she said. "But there is a reason why this happened and maybe if we can answer that question we can avoid situations like this in the future."

Volunteers manning two stations will ask people identifying themselves as homeless 12 questions, including "Where will you stay tonight?" and "How many people live with you?"

John Alexis, who says he's been living on the streets for a decade, says some young kids sleep in stairwells.

'People aren't widgets'

Lydia Bardak, the executive director of the John Howard Society's N.W.T. branch, is skeptical about the city's initiative.

"We know there have been people who have been living in the emergency shelters for decades. Counting them didn"t make any difference in their lives," she said.

Bardak also questions the degree to which homeless people will open up about their economic situations.

"There's a whole section of the population that are working but not making enough that they can afford market rent, rent and food," she said.

"People aren't widgets."

Busseysays the city may perform annual or seasonalfollowupcounts.