This October the District of Nipissing Social Services Administrative Board (DNSSAB) will be coordinating the annual District-wide homelessness Point-in-Time (PiT) count.
New this year will be the implementation of a By-Name List (BNL) homelessness registry, in accordance with the Ontario Government’s initiative to build a comprehensive understanding of homelessness across the province. In 2021, the PiT Count known locally as Nipissing Counts 2021 will be taking place in communities across the district including: North Bay, West Nipissing, Mattawa, Temagami, East Ferris, Bonfield, Calvin, Papineau-Cameron, Chisholm, and South Algonquin.
The data and information gathered from these initiatives will help to build a provincial and local picture of homelessness.
This will be achieved through a count of the number of individuals experiencing homelessness and the administration of an anonymous survey to create a fuller understanding of the demographics and services needs of the community.
Over a 24-hour period from October 13th to October 14th, trained volunteers will count and survey individuals who are staying in shelters, transitional housing, couch surfing and sleeping rough (without shelter).
Nipissing Counts will provide a “snapshot” of homelessness in the Nipissing District, indicating the minimum number of people experiencing homelessness in communities. The results from this project will be made publically available.
“Point in Time counts have proven to be very informative, providing a synopsis of what the current homelessness situation is in the District, and are one of the tools to gauge and plan for local needs.” says DNSSAB Board Chair, Mark King.
This project will mark the DNSSAB’s fourth PiT Count involving homelessness. Previous counts have taken place in 2016, 2018, and most recently in March of 2020. The results of these initiatives can be found in a presentation titled “Point in Time (PiT) Count Results” which can be found on the DNSSAB website.
