The number 1 cause of homelessness

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - (An opinion)“Scapegoating: the act of blaming a person or group for something bad that has happened or that someone else has done. Example: the scapegoating of immigrants for the country’s economic problems.” – Cambridge Dictionary

While it is easy to blame the unhoused population for their predicament, ‘Point In Time’ (PIT) counts, throughout the surrounding area, all point to low wages.

When asked why they were homeless, the #1 response in Campbell River, the Comox Valley, Parksville/Qualicum, Powell River, Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons was insufficient Income. None of these PIT counts identified a greater cause.

If you believe the oft-touted 30% rule, the surpising thing is that these numbers are not larger. According to the 2021 census, 3,450 Campbell River residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The PIT count only found 197 homeless people.

The disturbing thing is close to a third of them have been unhoused for less than a year. Prior to that, they were presumably either renting or owned homes.

While the numbers vary, this essential pattern is repeated in every one of the communities named above.

What could have caused so many people to lose their homes?

In September the BC Government reported that during the past year the cost of renting a house had risen 6.1% and the overall cosumer price index was 3.3% higher.

This slight raise may have been too much for families already teetering on the brink.

The second biggest cause of homelessness in many, but not all, of the communities mentioned above is ‘substance abuse.’

In Campbell River, a quarter of respondents reported this, but 34% said they were homeless because of conflicts with either their landlord or spouse.

Sue Moen, who worked with the unhoused sector when she was with the Salvation Army, once told Cortes Currents that most of the addicts she encountered did not have an addiction before they lost their homes.

Another disturbing finding, for those who like to portray the unhoused population as recent arrivals seeking handouts, is that more than two thiirds of their number in Parksville/Qualicum, Powell River, Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons have been in their communities for more than five years. In Campbell River and the Comox Valley that statistic fell to 65% and 66%, respectively. Many unhoused people were also born in the communities where they live.

One would think their city councils would feel a responsibility for them, rather than treat the as a problem to (hopefully) be removed from sight.

There are fewer statistics for remote areas like Cortes Island, but 75% of the respondents to last years “Collecting Stories Of Where We Live” survey spent more than 30% of their income on shelter. Many were not aware that this meant they are classified as ‘at risk.’ The 2016 census was more precise: 85 renter families and 50 house owning families pay higher shelter costs than they could afford.

This explains why 11 Cortes Island residents lived outdoors and another 45 ‘couch surfed’ last year.

Statistics are even harder to find for Quadra Island, where the 2016 Census identified 20% of the population as at risk.

It seems the homeless problem will be with us until we solve the housing crisis and everyone has a liveable wage.