November 22, 2016
Port Hope, ON

​This afternoon, Northumberland County released the initial findings from the 20,000 Homes Project mounted over the past week across the County. Green Wood Coalition is pleased to have played an integral part in this process that brought over 300 people in our county together to speak candidly about their personal homelessness situation. 

While the data gathered input from 300 people from across the county, this only represents a snapshot of the people facing homelessness in Northumberland.
•    59 individuals identified as being currently homeless
•    18 families (with a total of 25 children) are without a home
•    179 individuals and 48 families are at imminent risk of losing their home

“The evidence gathered and shared in these findings is not entirely surprising to us. Our work brings us shoulder-to-shoulder with many individuals living rough or on the cusp of homelessness” says, David Sheffield, Community Director. 

As Northumberland is primarily rural, our homeless community members don’t have restaurants open late to use as warming stations or warming grates to sleep over like in urban centres. We having been working to promote warm, affordable housing for our neighbours for years. This report highlights that that children, young adults, older adults are all affected by homelessness. We want to see this change. 

“We trust that leaders and community members alike step up, pay attention to this report and take-action to reduce homelessness in Northumberland. We will continue to do our part” says, Karyn Kennedy, Board Chair. 

To read more about the full report please click here
Click here to find out what Green Wood Coalition is doing about homelessness 
For more information, feel free to contact David Sheffield at 905-885-8700

Are you, or someone else you know, couch surfing, living rough, homeless or at risk of becoming homeless?
Community partners in Northumberland County--including Green Wood Coalition--are connecting with people and families from Nov. 14 to 17th. We want to complete a short health and housing survey with people who are experiencing homelessness (in shelters, couch surfing or living rough) and people who are at risk of homelessness (about to be evicted, cannot afford housing, living with friends, job loss).
The approach is to know every person experiencing or at risk of homelessness by name and to prioritize those most vulnerable, to help them get into stable, affordable housing as quickly as possible.
A gift card will be provided to those who complete surveys. 

Surveys can be completed Nov. 14-17th at various locations throughout Northumberland County. Watch this page for specific locations and times.