Volunteers canvass city, surveying Edmonton homeless

Hundreds of volunteers canvassedthe city Thursday in an attempt to understand the demographics of Edmonton's homeless population.

The 2016 homeless count, a24-hour censusoverseen by Homeward Trust, began late Wednesday night.

Using a combination of paper and smartphone surveys, volunteersworking in pairs, will speak with people theyencounter on the streets and in shelters, drop-in centres andriver valley encampments.

Homeward Trust CEO Susan McGee saidthe numbers may be affected bythe economic downturn, widespread lay-offs and the devastation of the wildfires in Fort McMurray.

"There are many faces of homelessness in our city and the countallows us to understand its complexity," McGee said.

"Ensuring we're on track to end homelessness in Edmonton is one of the reasons why conducting this count is so important."

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A final report, which will be published in early 2017,will include information likehow many children and youth are without homes.

McGee says thecount not only provides an important snapshot of the city's most impoverished residents, but also builds empathy within the larger community.

"Itbuilds awareness that we make assumptions maybe we shouldn't make about people that are homeless and how much they are struggling," said McGee.

"I know there area lot of volunteers that went home last night with their own stories."

In 2014, volunteers counted 2,307 homeless people in Edmonton, a decline of 30 per cent from 2008, which remains a record year for the enumeration.

Of the people tallied in the count, 46 per cent were identified as indigenous, 72 per cent were male, and 29 per cent were children and youth.

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Those numbers spurred the creation of new front-line programming, including dedicated Housing First teams for teens and families, and a new homeless youth advisory council.

This year is the first time that seven of Alberta's largest cities Calgary, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and Fort McMurraywill be conducting their homeless counts on the same day.

The Edmonton count ends at 7 p.m. Thursday.