Haliburton County trying to better understand homelessness in the area

Kawartha Lakes City Council has received a report on homelessness from staff in both Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County.

The report showed all the information they collected throughout the homelessness registry week. The goal of registry week was to identify and understand the scope of the problem in the area.

More than 40 volunteers surveyed people from food banks, libraries and parks in Haliburton County and Kawartha Lakes between May 28th and June 1st. Now that the information has been collected, it will be used to prioritize housing to the most vulnerable individual or families.

According to the report the average amount of time families spend without a permanent home is three years and 13 different households said they have not had a permanent home for more than three years.  The registry also found that 75 different households self-identified as experiencing homelessness. There has been a 23 per cent increase in the need for housing since the 2016 survey.

Homelessness in the area has cost the county and city an estimated $431,589 in ER visits, ambulances being dispatched and hospitalizations. That estimated cost is only for the past six months.

Adults were the largest demographic in the registry, accounting for 59 per cent of all surveyed. The second largest demographic was youth, which made up 21 per cent of those surveyed, with families coming in third at 20 per cent.

As a result of the registry, since 2016, 60 people have been helped into housing, surpassing the Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton goal of 24.