As with the first census in 2018, volunteers will distribute a questionnaire to people they meet on the street to better understand their reality, background and needs.

In Estrie, a more specific question was added to the questionnaire. [On veut savoir] What is the priority of people affected by homelessness, but on their own terms? We don’t offer possible answers, it’s an open question.indicates the regional coordinator of the operation in Estrie, Mickaël Meret.

Volunteers also go to accommodation organizations such as Partage Saint-François. In the coming days, users of day centers like La Chaudronnée will also be able to fill out a questionnaire. In any case, the choice to fill it or not is up to the users.

To better understand the evolution of homelessness

According to the community organizer of the Table itinérance de Sherbrooke, Gabriel Pallota, four years ago the participation rate was interesting, which should allow us to get a good idea of ​​how the situation has evolved this year. [Le mot] Census, the problem is that while it really is far from a census, it reinforces the idea of ​​the number. The idea is to successfully give an indicator of homelessness in the different territories. By repeating it regularly, as much as possible in the same way, we can follow the phenomenon a littlehe said.

At the end of this week’s census, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS will produce a preliminary report for the Department of Health and Social Services. The latter prepares the final report.

The results and conclusions obtained will allow improving homelessness interventions.

6,000 homeless in Quebec

The results of the 2018 census led to the conclusion that nearly 6,000 people were homeless in Quebec. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, an increase has been observed, which is partly due to precarity and the housing shortage.

According to Gabriel Pallota, there are several hundred homeless people in Sherbrooke without a permanent home. We are not in thousands but in hundredshe says.

A total of 313 questionnaires were completed in Sherbrooke in 2018.