October 16, 2024 • 8 mins
City of Windsor Housing Administration and Development coordinator Kelly Goz joins Jon Liedtke on AM800 CKLW to discuss the 2024 Point-in-Time Homeless Enumeration that counts the amount of people experiencing homelessness locally.
This interview aired on AM800 CKLW
This interview aired on AM800 CKLW
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, we're back, John Lock you here AM eight hundred CKLW.
Something that we talk about often here on AM eight
hundred is the state of our city and often when
it comes to that, we discuss the amount of people
who are experiencing homelessness, not just in Windsor but also
in Windsor Essex. Housing is, of course one of the
(00:24):
main things that we discuss. We know that there is
an ongoing housing crisis and it's not just affecting buyers
and sellers, or people who look to lease or people
who look to rent. It also is affecting people who
haven't reached that opportunity to be able to do so.
And whether it be for whatever variety of reasons, there
are people who are experiencing homelessness in our community of Windsor, Essex.
(00:46):
And it is time for the twenty twenty four point
in Time Homeless Enumeration, which is a homelessness street count
and survey for our region. What does this all mean,
how does it all work, How do we know that
the information is being collected and what is it being
used for? I don't have these answers, but I do
(01:08):
have someone here who can provide these answers. For us.
The Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development for the City
of Windsor, Kelly Goz, joins me right now, Hey, Kelly,
how you doing. Good morning, How are you doing really well?
Thank you so much, So tell us a little bit
what is this twenty twenty four point in time count
all about?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
So basically, over a twenty four hour period, we work
with community agencies and volunteers and have folks go out
in groups of two and three and really just stop
and interact with everyone that they encounter in the city
and the county to ask some questions to determine if
they are experiencing homelessness currently. And it's so I understand
(01:51):
a little bit more about how the City of Windsor
and the county of Efforts can work together to help
to remove some barriers for folks to be.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Able to access How so, how do you go about
finding people who are experiencing homelessness determining it? You said,
you know, you asked them like, what does the process
look like?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So we met with community agencies back in the middle
of September just to talk to them about where them
and their staff we're seeing people experiencing homelessness and we
have different routes or maps that are created throughout the
city and the county to send teams of volunteers. They
basically walk up and down those identified streets and again,
(02:32):
like I had said, encounter and speak with everybody that
they see to ask them, you know, where did you
sleep last night? And if it's determined that they might
be experiencing homelessness, there's a deeper survey that goes into
asking them a little bit more about their current situation.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
And then once you determine that information, you compile it
all and what is this information used for?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
The information is used to help inform programs and services,
help to inform business case and advocacy to upper levels
of government for additional funding either to build more housing
or to obtain operating funding in orders to be able
to provide supports for people so that they can find
housing and that they can remain housed.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
So this was done in twenty sixteen, twenty eighteen, twenty
twenty one, and now in twenty twenty four. I'm wondering,
is there any trend lines that you have seen. Has
homelessness become more experienced by people locally as the years
have gone by since this count started for sure, and since.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
You know, since we did our first count in twenty sixteen,
the housing landscape has drastically changed. Affordability for units has
changed so drastically, so we have seen increases year over year,
and particularly since we've seen coming out of the pandemic
in twenty twenty one, we are expecting to see increased
numbers in twenty twenty four. But again, it's really income
(03:58):
up to agencies and to the people that they're talking
to to make sure that we get discount as right
as possible.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And so the City of Windsor is tasked with not
only doing it for Windsor, but for the entire county.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Right correct, Yeah, for the entire region.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Okay, So what is I mean that it's so much
more encompassing then, so that you must really reply on
your community partners because you know, no offense to the
City of Windsor. I mean, but Windsor employees aren't aware of,
you know, the situation throughout the entire county.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So so we've relied very heavily on staff and community
partners in the County of Essex to make sure that
they're identifying those hot spots so that we can make
sure that the teams of volunteers are going out to
the right areas to try to get a really good
understanding of what homelessness in the county looks like.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So one thing that I've been made aware of with this,
and please do correct me if I'm wrong or expand
upon it. How do you how do you take into
account people who are, for example, staying with maybe friends
or family on their couch, but they're experiencing homelessness. Is
there a way that you're able to bring that number
into account or is does this number inherently will it
represent an undercount because you can't capture everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
The count never can capture anybody. But in addition to
doing the street count tonight and tomorrow morning, we also
have different organizations that have signed to do place based surveys.
So that's really to capture more of that hidden homelessness.
So if somebody is staying with a family or a
friend and they aren't attending the emergency shelter system, they
(05:30):
can go to places like the Homelessness and Housing Health
Hub at four hundred win Dot Street, Ease or the
Essex County Homelessness Hub at two fifteen Talbot Street. In
Leamington to again make sure that their situation and that
they are reflected in the account when those numbers get
rolled up with the final analysis.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Now you say that volunteers are trained, what does that
training look like? How do you what is it to
be trained to conduct this homelessness enumeration.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
So we are currently working with or CODE Consulting who's
developed a training. It covers everything about why the account
is important, to how to go about and approach individuals,
and how to go through the survey itself. It is
a fairly comprehensive survey, about fifteen pages long, just making
sure that people are sensitive and how they're asking the
(06:25):
questions and you know, really taking the lead of the
person that is being surveyed if they are declining or
if they no longer want to continue with the survey.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
And this is all federally mandated right correct?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Okay? So does do higher numbers or higher rates of
homelessness translate into higher levels of funding from higher levels
of government?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So different levels of government do take into account different metrics,
one of which is the data that's collected through the
point in time count. We are aware that particularly during COVID,
some of our code bit funding that was received locally
was done in collaboration with understanding what our numbers are
through the.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Pit count and what should people know about this that
it's taking place as you said today, tonight and tomorrow night,
if they haven't heard about this, like why is this?
Why is this important? What's the elevator pitch for the
person who's uninformed?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Again? Just you know that the city and the county
together are working to just try to continue to understand
the depth of homelessness in our community. We know that
it exists and the information that is being collected really
helps inform policy programs, making any changes and adjustments, and
as well continuing to advocate to make sure that winsor
(07:42):
Ethics receives the funding from upper levels of government that
it needs in order to combat and to work through
ending homelessness longer term.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
How does windsor Essex compare to maybe some of our
peer municipalities when it comes to homelessness And if you're
not able to answer that, I mean it's totally fine.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Our numbers are pretty much in part with our colleague municipalities.
We are always working with other municipalities to make sure
that we're on the cutting edge of programs that we
are constantly evolving, programs that were not staying stagnant, and
we're really looking towards those best in the emergency practices
and making sure that those are being reflected and coming
(08:22):
back to our community again to try to make sure
that everybody's wellness is being achieved for how they want
that to be.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, well, hey, Kelly, thank you so much for your time.
I really do appreciate it, and good luck with the
count tonight and tomorrow night.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Have a good day to you as well. Kelly Goz
is the Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development at the
City of Windsor.
Hey, we're back, John Lock you here AM eight hundred CKLW.
Something that we talk about often here on AM eight
hundred is the state of our city and often when
it comes to that, we discuss the amount of people
who are experiencing homelessness, not just in Windsor but also
in Windsor Essex. Housing is, of course one of the
(00:24):
main things that we discuss. We know that there is
an ongoing housing crisis and it's not just affecting buyers
and sellers, or people who look to lease or people
who look to rent. It also is affecting people who
haven't reached that opportunity to be able to do so.
And whether it be for whatever variety of reasons, there
are people who are experiencing homelessness in our community of Windsor, Essex.
(00:46):
And it is time for the twenty twenty four point
in Time Homeless Enumeration, which is a homelessness street count
and survey for our region. What does this all mean,
how does it all work, How do we know that
the information is being collected and what is it being
used for? I don't have these answers, but I do
(01:08):
have someone here who can provide these answers. For us.
The Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development for the City
of Windsor, Kelly Goz, joins me right now, Hey, Kelly,
how you doing. Good morning, How are you doing really well?
Thank you so much, So tell us a little bit
what is this twenty twenty four point in time count
all about?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
So basically, over a twenty four hour period, we work
with community agencies and volunteers and have folks go out
in groups of two and three and really just stop
and interact with everyone that they encounter in the city
and the county to ask some questions to determine if
they are experiencing homelessness currently. And it's so I understand
(01:51):
a little bit more about how the City of Windsor
and the county of Efforts can work together to help
to remove some barriers for folks to be.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Able to access How so, how do you go about
finding people who are experiencing homelessness determining it? You said,
you know, you asked them like, what does the process
look like?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
So we met with community agencies back in the middle
of September just to talk to them about where them
and their staff we're seeing people experiencing homelessness and we
have different routes or maps that are created throughout the
city and the county to send teams of volunteers. They
basically walk up and down those identified streets and again,
(02:32):
like I had said, encounter and speak with everybody that
they see to ask them, you know, where did you
sleep last night? And if it's determined that they might
be experiencing homelessness, there's a deeper survey that goes into
asking them a little bit more about their current situation.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
And then once you determine that information, you compile it
all and what is this information used for?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
The information is used to help inform programs and services,
help to inform business case and advocacy to upper levels
of government for additional funding either to build more housing
or to obtain operating funding in orders to be able
to provide supports for people so that they can find
housing and that they can remain housed.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
So this was done in twenty sixteen, twenty eighteen, twenty
twenty one, and now in twenty twenty four. I'm wondering,
is there any trend lines that you have seen. Has
homelessness become more experienced by people locally as the years
have gone by since this count started for sure, and since.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
You know, since we did our first count in twenty sixteen,
the housing landscape has drastically changed. Affordability for units has
changed so drastically, so we have seen increases year over year,
and particularly since we've seen coming out of the pandemic
in twenty twenty one, we are expecting to see increased
numbers in twenty twenty four. But again, it's really income
(03:58):
up to agencies and to the people that they're talking
to to make sure that we get discount as right
as possible.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And so the City of Windsor is tasked with not
only doing it for Windsor, but for the entire county.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Right correct, Yeah, for the entire region.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Okay, So what is I mean that it's so much
more encompassing then, so that you must really reply on
your community partners because you know, no offense to the
City of Windsor. I mean, but Windsor employees aren't aware of,
you know, the situation throughout the entire county.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So so we've relied very heavily on staff and community
partners in the County of Essex to make sure that
they're identifying those hot spots so that we can make
sure that the teams of volunteers are going out to
the right areas to try to get a really good
understanding of what homelessness in the county looks like.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
So one thing that I've been made aware of with this,
and please do correct me if I'm wrong or expand
upon it. How do you how do you take into
account people who are, for example, staying with maybe friends
or family on their couch, but they're experiencing homelessness. Is
there a way that you're able to bring that number
into account or is does this number inherently will it
represent an undercount because you can't capture everybody.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
The count never can capture anybody. But in addition to
doing the street count tonight and tomorrow morning, we also
have different organizations that have signed to do place based surveys.
So that's really to capture more of that hidden homelessness.
So if somebody is staying with a family or a
friend and they aren't attending the emergency shelter system, they
(05:30):
can go to places like the Homelessness and Housing Health
Hub at four hundred win Dot Street, Ease or the
Essex County Homelessness Hub at two fifteen Talbot Street. In
Leamington to again make sure that their situation and that
they are reflected in the account when those numbers get
rolled up with the final analysis.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Now you say that volunteers are trained, what does that
training look like? How do you what is it to
be trained to conduct this homelessness enumeration.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
So we are currently working with or CODE Consulting who's
developed a training. It covers everything about why the account
is important, to how to go about and approach individuals,
and how to go through the survey itself. It is
a fairly comprehensive survey, about fifteen pages long, just making
sure that people are sensitive and how they're asking the
(06:25):
questions and you know, really taking the lead of the
person that is being surveyed if they are declining or
if they no longer want to continue with the survey.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
And this is all federally mandated right correct?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Okay? So does do higher numbers or higher rates of
homelessness translate into higher levels of funding from higher levels
of government?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So different levels of government do take into account different metrics,
one of which is the data that's collected through the
point in time count. We are aware that particularly during COVID,
some of our code bit funding that was received locally
was done in collaboration with understanding what our numbers are
through the.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Pit count and what should people know about this that
it's taking place as you said today, tonight and tomorrow night,
if they haven't heard about this, like why is this?
Why is this important? What's the elevator pitch for the
person who's uninformed?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Again? Just you know that the city and the county
together are working to just try to continue to understand
the depth of homelessness in our community. We know that
it exists and the information that is being collected really
helps inform policy programs, making any changes and adjustments, and
as well continuing to advocate to make sure that winsor
(07:42):
Ethics receives the funding from upper levels of government that
it needs in order to combat and to work through
ending homelessness longer term.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
How does windsor Essex compare to maybe some of our
peer municipalities when it comes to homelessness And if you're
not able to answer that, I mean it's totally fine.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Our numbers are pretty much in part with our colleague municipalities.
We are always working with other municipalities to make sure
that we're on the cutting edge of programs that we
are constantly evolving, programs that were not staying stagnant, and
we're really looking towards those best in the emergency practices
and making sure that those are being reflected and coming
(08:22):
back to our community again to try to make sure
that everybody's wellness is being achieved for how they want
that to be.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, well, hey, Kelly, thank you so much for your time.
I really do appreciate it, and good luck with the
count tonight and tomorrow night.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Have a good day to you as well. Kelly Goz
is the Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development at the
City of Windsor.
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