A survey conducted last November shows a growing homeless population in Nelson, almost all of whom are longtime residents of the city.
The point-in-time count by the Nelson Committee on Homelessness, which is a requirement for communities that receive federal funding, was conducted on Nov. 7 and supported by a survey that received responses during a three-week period.
The count found 122 people experiencing some form of homelessness in Nelson. Of those, 40 people were completely unsheltered, which is defined as taking residence in tents or makeshift shelters, empty buildings, unheated trailers, parks, sidewalks or any other exposed outdoor location. Four more were living in their cars.
Fifty-nine people were provisionally housed at one of two shelters (Stepping Stones and the Aimee Beaulieu Transition House, the latter of which is considered an emergency shelter) and four transitional housing sites, while 19 others were staying at someone's residence because they had no safe home of their own.
Dylan Griffith, who led the count, said respondents had lived in the city an average of nine years while those without any shelter at all had been in Nelson for an average of 12 years.
"They're in this situation now where it's not that they have become unhouseable, it's just that we currently have no options that are going to be appropriate for them because of the level of support they need and the adjustment to be inside again in an environment they haven't lived in for sometimes decades. I talked to people who have not had a place to live in 20 years.”
The results also run contrary to a local misconception that the unhoused population is either transient or has come to Nelson to access social services. Only 12 people surveyed had lived in Nelson for less than two years and moved to the city from outside the West Kootenay.
Nelson had not previously hosted a full point-in-time count since 2018. In the interim, Griffith says the unhoused population has increased by 30 per cent, which he added follows a provincial and national trend of growing homelessness since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average time spent homeless in Nelson was 25 months. Fifty-six per cent of respondents said they had not had stable long-term housing in Nelson for a year or longer compared to 24 per cent in 2018.
The majority of people without homes at 55 per cent were men, followed by 35 per cent women and 10 per cent identifying as two-spirit, transsexual or non-binary.
Griffith said a common theme heard was that homelessness for respondents was first experienced in childhood, which he argued shows a need for early intervention and family supports in Nelson.
“The majority of people who are homeless are, generally speaking, children we fail, and they've been failed by systems of support all along the way. And we've got a situation now where what we're seeing is people are entering homelessness more easily and having much, much more difficulty getting out.”
Youth homelessness can be difficult to report due to what is referred to as hidden homelessness, which occurs when a person does not access social services or present as unhoused. Students may for example attend school but never tell friends or teachers what their housing situation is.
Griffith said 17 respondents under the age of 19 were identified by working with youth organizations including L.V. Rogers, which surveyed students.
“Quite a few of those kids are in very, very vulnerable situations. They're staying with adults who they are not related to in, you know, situations that are the risk of exploitation is very, very high, but there's nowhere for them to go.”
Forty-one per cent of respondents identified as First Nations, Métis, Inuit or having an Indigenous ancestry, which is notable for Nelson's relatively small Indigenous population that was just 585 residents in 2021 according to the most recent federal census.
Unhoused residents also struggle with multiple health challenges. Sixty-eight per cent said they have a mental-health issue, 62 per cent have a substance-use disorder, 48 per cent live with a cognitive function impairment, 46 per cent have physical mobility limitations and 40 per cent have suffered a brain injury.
The survey also shows a need for specific services in Nelson. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents said they need dental care, followed by requests for vision care (49 per cent), day labour (47 per cent), mental-health support (42 per cent) and tenant advocacy (38 per cent).
The point-in-time count results, Griffith said, show a need for more affordable housing types that serves different demographics.
Some of those supports do already exist in Nelson — 28 people who were considered homeless or at-risk of homelessness are now staying in temporary units at the North Shore Inn while the site is renovated, and Nelson CARES also manages other sites dedicated to low-income seniors, single adults, families and for people living with disabilities.
There are also four more affordable housing projects either being planned for or under construction, although none of those have been designated for unhoused residents who need health supports.
What Nelson has in place however, Griffith argued, is still inadequate.
“We need both supportive housing and then complex care housing for people who have been traumatized by their experience in homelessness, who do have significant mental-health issues that need to be managed, and also people who have been using a really terrible drug supply for a lot of years now.”
