By Lissa Alexander
Residents are having a difficult time keeping up with the high cost of living and the negative impacts can be even more dramatic for the most vulnerable community members.
This month, the Oceanside Task Force on Homelessness (OTFH) hosts a modified Project Connect Health Fair for unhoused residents and those at risk of homelessness. This is the 10th year for the event where attendees will have access to items of necessity and lifesaving resources.
In the spring of 2023, the province of British Columbia provided funding to conduct homeless counts around the province. These snapshots reveal the minimum number of people experiencing homelessness in a 24-hour period in a given area, their demographic characteristics, service use and other information.
In the Parksville Qualicum Beach region, 103 people were identified as experiencing homelessness, up from 87 people in 2021. The definition of homelessness used in this project is someone who does not have a place to pay rent. This number is an undercount – as it represents the number of people who either stayed in shelter or were found and completed at least three of the survey questions on the evening of April 25 and the daytime of April 26.
Of the 103 residents, 72 per cent were adults, 25 per cent were seniors and three per cent were youth. Thirty per cent of respondents identified as Indigenous, and of those, 52 per cent reported having lived, or had generational experience, with residential schools.
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Some of the reasons stated for housing loss included: not enough income (56 per cent) landlord/tenant conflict (31 per cent), conflict with spouse or partner (21 per cent) and substance use issues (21 per cent). Forty-one per cent reported having a brain injury and 82 per cent reported two or more health concerns. For the length of time experiencing homelessness, 94 per cent had been living in the community for more than one year, 78 per cent had been in the community for more than five years and 25 per cent had always been in the community.
The Project Connect Health Fair will take place at the Salvation Army soup kitchen in Parksville on Wednesday, Oct. 11 during Homelessness Action Week (Oct. 10 to Oct. 17) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
OTFH will distribute 100 care packages of survival gear, food, personal care items and treats. Several local businesses have provided items for the packages including HearingLife, Oceanside Animal Hospital and Parksville Pharmasave.
The OTFH was established in 2010 by the City of Parksville and those dedicated to eradicating local homelessness and the surrounding stigmas. It currently includes Island Crisis Care Society, Society of Organized Services (SOS), Salvation Army, Forward House Community Society, Island Health, Canadian Mental Health Association, , RCMP, Ridebridge, and liaisons from Regional District of Nanaimo, the Town of Qualicum Beach, the City of Parksville and the local MLA.
To make a donation or receive more information, please call 250-248-2093, ext. 251 or email: oceansidehomelessness@gmail.com.
Learn more about OTFH online at www.oceansidehomelessness.com.