A Sunshine Coast poverty advocate says it’s not just the visible homeless who need to be included in the provincial homeless count taking place this week.
“If people are living on a boat, if people are living in a vehicle, if people have been couch surfing with friends for months, or they're in any kind of unstable situation, all those numbers count,” says Chris Hergesheimer, who is coordinating the homeless count on the Sunshine Coast on behalf of the Homelessness Services Association of BC. “And we want to know the breadth and the depth of precarious housing. Let's call it at a general level.”
Wednesday, March 5, the official 2025 Point-in-Time Homeless Count will take place in person and by phone, from 8 a.m. to midnight. Hergesheimer says the count takes place with the support of various agencies across the Coast, including the Sunshine Coast Resource Centre, Salvation Army, RainCity Housing and Arrowhead Clubhouse.
He says the information gathered, including some demographic data, helps the province and non-profit agencies better understand any changes over the years and what that means for advocacy asks and the kinds of programs being delivered.
“And where the need might be greater. To really just be more strategic in our efforts that demographic data is really important,” says Hergesheimer. “They fill out a survey. And that takes about five or six minutes. It's an anonymous survey. So, they can come to one of our magnet events which are held, and people can go there, have coffee, food, hang out, do the survey with a volunteer and a worker, and then they can cruise back to where they are.”
In the last count, the 2023 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, the data found 21 per cent of the 11,352 respondents were seniors, 66 per cent reported as men. People who identify as Indigenous and as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community were over represented, and 67 per cent said they had been in the community they were counted in for more than five years. Twenty-three per cent of respondents reported that they have always lived in that community.
The top reasons for becoming homeless included not enough income (37 per cent), substance use issue (25 per cent), followed by landlord/tenant conflict, or a conflict with a spouse or partner, with 17 per cent each.
Hergesheimer says it’s disturbing to see the number of homeless seniors increasing.
“There's a lot of people who aren’t thinking about that and then all of a sudden, you know, six months later or a year later, you could end up in a precarious housing situation,” says Hergesheimer. “And not necessarily homeless in the way that we think about that, but just without a place to pay rent and an unstable environment. And so that's important for us to understand.”
The count takes place in 20 communities across the province, staggered over dates in March and April. Hergesheimer notes the results of the count likely won’t be released until September 2025.
Now it’s a matter of getting the word out to as many homeless people and the agencies who know them best, as possible. So far, the association has been using social media, posters, handbills and word-of-mouth to spread the message.
Three events take place Wednesday where people can drop in for a coffee and snack and get registered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., including the Salvation Army in Gibsons, Roberts Creek Hall, and a barbecue to be held on Hightide Avenue outside of RainCity Housing.
For anyone who can’t or chooses not to attend an event, they’re asked to call 604-741-3023 or 604-989-4679 anytime between 8 a.m. to midnight
