Survey results put a face on homelessness in Behchoko

A new surveyis shedding lighton the extent of homelessnessinBehchoko, N.W.T.

The TlichoFriendship Centre also known as theRae-Edzo Friendship Centre surveyed 104 homeless people from Yellowknife and Behchoko with the goal of finding out what their biggest issues are. The information gathered will be used to get grant money and fund programs.

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"There's so much grief and trauma to deal with on top of not having homes," said Ellen Huse, a consultant who led the assessment in partnership with the friendship centre.

It is believed about 100 to 125 people living in the community are homeless,Husepreviously told CBC, adding many more have madetheir way to Yellowknife, about 100 kilometres southeast, where they remain homeless. According to the N.W.T. Bureau of Statistics, there were approximately 2,227 people living in Behchoko as of July 2017.

About 18 per cent of the respondents in Yellowknife had left Behchoko because they said they were grieving.

Huse said the survey information has already been used to secure funding for a grief and trauma healing program. The program will take people on the land in June.

The survey also found that 30 per cent of respondents had a Grade 8 education or less. Only six people were currently attending an educational institution.

More than half of the respondents have struggled to get enough food.

"This is a crisis. People's lives are at stake," said Huse. "You can't just have some Band-Aid solution there needs to be wraparound supports."

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'It's really suffering and struggling'

"Three years ago I lost my two best friends living on the street; they froze to death," Narcisse Naedzo, a man who has been homeless for 12 years, told CBC.

He said the survey is "too little too late ... but it's progress."

Naedzo has spent many nights at an abandoned house that his late mother used to live in. On cold nights, up to 15 people sometimes slept in the house.

"It's really suffering and struggling, and it's miserable living in the bush," he said.

Naedzo said Behchoko's new, and only, warming shelter has been helpful.

"They feed you well," said Naedzo.

He said unemployment and lack of education are the biggest factors in Behchoko's high rate of homelessness.

Naedzo wants to see more shelters in other communities as well, like Gameti and Whati.

The friendship centre, along with the Community Government ofBehchoko, the health centre, churches, associations for people with disabilities, youth agencies and others, put in a proposal and received funding to do the needs assessment.

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