Homeless Count Tables - City of Prince George

Section 4: Discussion and Conclusions
Prince George Homeless Count Report 2010
4.1 Solutions and Next Steps
The 2010 Prince George Homeless Count is the second ever homeless count that has been conducted in
the City of Prince George. Based on the results, close to 30% of the homeless people in Prince George
face ‘absolute homelessness’, where an individual or family has no housing at all, is staying in a
temporary form of shelter, or in locations not fit for people to live in. The primary reasons for their
homelessness named by the majority of respondents are a lack of affordable housing (40%) followed by
too little or no pay or welfare (35%) and issues with alcohol and substance abuse (32%). Most indicated
a combination of these and other reasons for their homelessness. Notably, while issues with alcohol and
substance abuse were indicated as reasons for their homelessness by one-third of the surveyed
population, just over half of all respondents (51%) indicated having drug and alcohol issues when
reporting their health conditions. Related to health issues, and especially troublesome, is the finding
that one-third (30%) of respondents suffered from three or more health conditions. The combination of
a lack of affordable housing and the many health issues homeless people in Prince George struggle with
is a clear indication of a lack of shelter and services available to the population which could facilitate and
encourage their attempts to escape this vicious circle. This is a long-standing issue that has and
continues to raise primary concern with the homeless service agencies and organizations in Prince
George. A possible avenue to address this issue may be through a collaborative effort between CPAH,
the City of Prince George, Northern Health and the various service providers and agencies in Prince
George.
Concerns are also raised by the large number of self-declared Aboriginal respondents. According to the
demographic results of the Homeless Count, more than two-thirds of the homeless population in Prince
George is of Aboriginal descent. Additionally, Aboriginal respondents tend to be younger than the non-
Aboriginal homeless population. Likewise, female respondents tended to be younger than male
respondents. Although some specialized services and programs are already being provided and are
targeted at Aboriginal homeless individuals in particular, these findings may indicate that there is a need
for the development of further, possibly more diversified and age-specific services and/or the
improvement of current services and programs provided to Aboriginal and female homeless people in
Prince George.
The results of the 2010 Prince George Homeless Count demonstrate that homelessness continues to
remain a significant problem in the City of Prince George. The count provides essential information to
government, organizations, and agencies providing services and support to homeless individuals. It is
CPAH’s hope that, as with the 2008 data, the results of the 2010 Count will inform future development
strategies and action plans, and allow for further collaborative work with the City of Prince George, the
Ministry of Housing and Social Development and all other levels of government, toward the reduction of
homelessness.
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