The Journey Home Strategy reports that 2,000 people experience homelessness at some point during the course of one year.

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

The Journey Home Society has announced its participation in Built for Zero Canada, a national effort using a data-driven approach to help communities determine who is experiencing homelessness and where to find them in order to quantify what housing resources are needed to reach functional zero homelessness.

The Society plans to have a full 'By Name List' of all individuals experiencing homelessness by summer 2020, according to a media release. This list will provide real-time data on the inflow and outflow of people experiencing homelessness and those returning to homelessness.

The Journey Home Strategy is Kelowna’s five-year plan to address homelessness by ensuring a coordinated accessible system of care for those in Kelowna who have lost or are at risk of losing their home. The society reports that 2,000 people experience homelessness at some point during the course of one year.

“While we often see visible homelessness in the community, what is much less visible are the people sleeping in cars, motels, precariously housed, or couch surfing,” said Stephanie Ball, Executive Director of The Society in the release. “We also don’t have a clear picture or map of the inflow and outflow of residents falling into homelessness throughout the year. The partnership with Built for Zero Canada and the By Names List will change all of that.”

The Society is one of two BC communities participating in Built for Zero Canada. The project help identify data trends on a month-to-month basis across the community, and eventually throughout the region. 

“We’ll be able to more accurately identify clear housing model and support needs and numbers," states Ball. "We’ll be able to see where housing services supports are most effective and where they aren’t so we can modify services and systems accordingly."

For more information about the Central Okanagan Journey Home Society and the Journey Home Strategy, go here.

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