Lethbridge sees spike in encampments, and in support referrals [Video]

LETHBRIDGE –

The City of Lethbridge’s encampment response team continues to see a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness throughout the summer months.

“We’ve been busy this summer with our encampment response,” said Andrew Malcolm, general manager of community social development with the city.

“July and August represent the first month-to-month comparison from when we became operational last year, so with those year-to-year data, we are able to see that we’ve had a 27 per cent increase in calls.”

With 336 calls triaged, 134 were identified to be an encampment.

The remaining calls have been for other related topics such as debris, mess in a lane or unsightly premises.

There were 15 co-ordinated encampment clean-ups with a total of 160 structures and 10,650 kg of debris removed.

The city says the summer months are the high season for encampment response.

“There’s more knowledge in the community for the reporting process …