The municipality of Chatham-Kent is joining communities across Canada this April in the 20,000 Homes Campaign which aims to eliminate homelessness.
“We believe it is possible to end homelessness in Chatham-Kent,” said Valerie Colasanti, Director Employment & Social Services and Co-Chair of the CK Housing and Homelessness Committee, in a media release. “Joining the 20,000 Homes Campaign and participating in our first ever registry week will give us data and information that will not only help us in homelessness planning, but will connect those most in need with long term, stable housing.”
The 20,000 Homes Campaign is a national movement of communities working together to permanently house 20,000 of Canada’s most vulnerable homeless people by July 1, 2020.
During the week of April 9 to 14, trained volunteers will count and survey individuals who are without stable housing or homeless.
“Our count will provide a ‘snapshot’ of homelessness in Chatham-Kent and become a measurement of the number of people experiencing homelessness over a specific period of time,” Colasanti said. “The count will improve our understanding of the needs and circumstances of people who are affected by homelessness in our community.
“Results from Registry Week will be made publically available and we will use the results of the count to improve our response to homelessness. In the future, successive counts will allow us to measure progress towards our ultimate goal: ending homelessness in Chatham-Kent,” she said.
