The Point In Time (PiT) homeless count is coming up next month.
This will be the second time the count has taken place in Regina. The first being back in May 2015.
Count coordinator, Addison Docherty said the first count was driven by the community and this year’s count on April 18 will be part of a national survey.
“There’s 70 communities across the country that are participating in March and April,” he said. “So it’ll give the government of Canada kind of an unprecedented glimpse into what the homelessness situation looks like across the country.”
As far as how the count works, Docherty said areas of the city will be sectioned off and groups of volunteers will walk through their allotted section between the hours of 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Prior to this, volunteers will receive training at the YMCA gymnasium along with being treated to snacks and refreshments.
“We want people to feel and be prepared, it’s not an overly complicated volunteer position but the training is necessary so that we can get an accurate (survey),” Docherty said.
In 2015, they had about 150 people volunteer their time from various organizations in the city. So far he said they have about 30 people signed up since volunteer registration opened in the past week.
“The more people we can get involved — the better,” he said.
There are three different positions a person can volunteer for which include team lead, survey volunteer and headquarter volunteer. The YMCA’s website has a description of what each position entails along with how to apply.