Last week's Prince Rupert homeless count, one of 12 counts to be funded across BC

With British Columbia counts the homeless across the Province,
Prince Rupert still awaits an update on the status of the modular housing
promised to the community last November

Last Wednesday, volunteers spread out around Prince Rupert  to try to get as accurate a picture as possible of the city's homeless situation. A project initiated by the provincial government and something that they call the first step to a better understanding and addressing of the needs of our most vulnerable citizens.

The survey was part of an ongoing collection of data by the province, designed to assess the homeless situation across British Columbia.

To conduct the count, the Province has allocated 550,000 dollars towards the homelessness initiative, with plans to deliver the preliminary results by early summer, the various elements of the study all part of the BC government's Homelessness Action Plan.

Yesterday, the province outlined the scope of their population count, with Selina Robinson, the Minister of Municipal Affairs providing for the guiding themes to the study.

“Good solutions require good data. That’s where these counts come in ... We know that homelessness is a challenge across British Columbia. Last September, when we announced funding for 2,000 units of modular housing for people struggling with homelessness, communities across the province – large and small – jumped at the opportunity to provide homes for those in need. Through these counts, we can get better data on the extent of the challenge in each region, giving us the information we need to plan future housing solutions.”

The full announcement of the homeless count and those cities that are participating in it can be found here.

In Monday's announcement, the province makes note of recent funding directed towards new supportive housing units for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Prince Rupert is one of the communities that is supposed to benefit from that initiative, with the first indication of the assistance coming our way delivered back in November, with the timeline back then suggesting that the modular units would be up and in operation by the end of March.

For those that haven't glanced at a calendar recently, today is March 27th.

As we count down the last five days of the month, we still have no sign of those much heralded units of November, nor has anyone offered up any indication as to the status of that plan and when Prince Rupert's most vulnerable and at risk residents may have some form housing to call their own.

Considering how North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice made the first announcement nearly four months ago, it may perhaps be time for an update from her office on the progress of the housing program for the city.

More items related to housing issues can be found on our archive page here.

For more notes on provincial politics see our Legislature archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review