Recently-released numbers for the Saint John Human Development Council show that there was a 107-per cent increase in individuals experiencing absolute homelessness in New Brunswick’s three major cities between 2021 and 2023.
Absolute homelessness is a term that refers to individuals living in the street or in emergency shelters.
The numbers were part of the council’s point in time (PiT) count, in which they surveyed individuals experiencing homelessness in certain New Brunswick communities over a period of “24 to 48 hours” according to council Senior Director Greg Bishop.
This was the province’s largest-ever PiT count, with surveys taking place in Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John, Bathurst, Miramichi, St.Stephen and Edmundston in April of last year.
Of the 687 people experiencing absolute homelessness in those communities, over half of them were located in Moncton.
Mike Randall, co-chair of the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee, said he wants to see more long-term plans made to address the issue.
“It’s almost $20,000 a year for a shelter bed, at the end of all of that people are still homeless,” he said on Wednesday.
“We’re not addressing some of those core issues of affordable housing, wraparound services, prescribing health care practitioners,” he said.
Shannon Barry, senior director of the YMCA’s outreach program, said the lack of affordable housing was a major barrier in helping people leave homelessness.
“Even when there are opportunities where someone has the income, where they’re able to look at different options there’s just not availability,” she said.
The YMCA offers a service helping people find affordable housing out of the city’s new drop-in centre and “hub” for services in the former Lion’s Community Centre on St-George Street.
“Even when we’re looking at rooming houses ,which are often a good option for folks that are on social assistance, we used to be able to find just renting a single room for as low as $300,” she said.
“Were now seeing that cost upwards of $900 for one month,” she said.
Seventy-five per cent of PiT count survey responders said rent being too expensive was their biggest challenge in finding housing.
The same number of responders had been homeless for more than 180 days.
Department of Social Development representative Rebecca Howland told Global News PiT counts like this one are used along with other resources to make “data-informed, community based decisions.”
Howland said that the development of “homelessness hubs” like the one on St. George Street in Moncton, along with ones in Saint John and Fredericton, were initiated as a result of PiT counts “and other inputs.”
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