Homelessness
HOMELESSNESS REPORT CARD: 2018
Homelessness is often misunderstood. It’s not a ‘cute’ cause, so it’s hard to feel empathy for something most of us are fortunate enough never to have endured. Homelessness is not suffered through choice – everyone is vulnerable.
In order to become homeless, a person has to have suffered a personal crisis. Once alone and vulnerable, the slide into a vicious downward spiral is inevitable and traumatic, bring with it a state of hopelessness most of us have never experienced. From these depths it is hard either to remember or imagine life as the rest of us know it, let alone engage positively with society.
Common reasons why people become homeless include:
Family breakdown
Bereavement
Redundancy
Leaving institutional living(army, police, social care, prison)
Mental illness
Childhood abuse / domestic violence
Substance abuse (the underlying cause of which is often one or more of the above)
The word ‘home’ conjures feelings of warmth, family, friendship and love. To be homeless is to be alone, with no one to care about you. Tackling homelessness is not just about providing shelter from the elements, it is about providing advice, advocacy, education and meaningful occupation, but above all, care within a community that can be called ‘home’.
SHIP works with the local community to promote projects that benefit all who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It’s part of our commitment to the entire housing continuum.
2018 Point-In-Time Homelessness Count, Saskatoon
The fourth Point-in-Time (PIT) Homelessness Count, including an indoor and outdoor enumeration, a street needs assessment, and public perception survey, was held in Saskatoon on April 18, 2018. The 2018 count built on the learning from counts in Saskatoon in 2008, 2012 and 2015, while adapting to the requirements of Employment and Social Development Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy’s second coordinated PIT count. The PIT count, using a “snap shot” approach to collect the data, aimed to identify chronically homeless (individuals who are currently homeless and have been homeless for six months or more in the past year) and episodically homeless (individuals who are currently homeless and have experienced three or more episodes of homelessness in the past year).
