Count aims to pinpoint homeless numbers in Saskatoon

Non-profit counts number of homeless in Saskatoon A local non-profit organization is counting how many people are homeless in Saskatoon, Laura Woodward explains.

More than 120 volunteers with a Saskatoon non-profit spent much of Wednesday working to capture a “snapshot count” of the number of homeless people in the city.

The volunteers, from the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership and the Community-University Institute for Social Research, conducted surveys between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., asking people across the city about their experiences with homelessness and about education and employment.

“We can have ideas about how to tackle homelessness, but let’s actually talk to the people who are homeless, and that’s the point of this survey,” said volunteer Jolene Zidkovich.

Knowing how many people are homeless in Saskatoon can help shelters and other organizations better use resources and better apply for funding.

A similar “point-in-time” homeless count was done three years ago. Volunteers found 450 people in Saskatoon, including 45 children, experienced homelessness.

Preliminary numbers for Wednesday’s count are set to be released next week.