A homeless encampment in Prince Albert. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff

PiT Count

Call for volunteers to help track homelessness in Prince Albert

Aug 12, 2024 | 2:16 PM

In 2022, a Point-In-Time (PiT) Count found 120 people experiencing homelessness in Prince Albert. Now, the River Bank Development Corporation (RBDC) is looking to update those numbers with help from volunteers and agencies in the community.

PiT Counts provide a snapshot of the homeless situation. Once collected, the data is then shared with the community and all levels of government to better understand and serve individuals experiencing homelessness in Canada. RBDC Project Officer Diana Rodas said there are two components to it. The unsheltered enumeration takes place Oct. 23 from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. She said it’s an important step in assessing the homeless population.

“We go out to the streets with volunteers and survey different areas of P.A. that we’ve hot spotted before the count…areas we’ve identified where homeless people congregate. And we also just go around the city and count the people that we see experiencing homelessness,” Rodas said.

The surveys are anonymous, but to avoid duplication, each person is given a unique identifier by utilizing their initials and date of birth.

The second component is a survey that includes a set of standardized questions asked directly to the person experiencing homelessness. Rodas said they need outreach workers, shelters and other agencies like mental health and the food bank to administer the surveys and keep a tally from Oct. 22 -24.

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“We also want to reach volunteers or businesses in different sectors because homelessness is a city issue, not something just in the human services sector,” she said.

Training will be provided for interested volunteers and agencies.

Rodas said to ensure safety during the unsheltered count, volunteers will work in groups of four with a dedicated driver, lookout person, an interviewer and notetaker.

The Prince Albert PiT is one of several nationally-coordinated PiT Counts taking place across the country between Oct. 1 and Nov. 3, 2024.

Volunteers can reach Rodas at rbdc.rh2@sasktel.net or by calling 306-763-4141.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com