06/15/2026
“Build it and they will come.”
“They’re not from here."
The claim that people are being sent to our community, or travelling here specifically to access housing services, is a persistent and harmful myth that undermines our community’s ability to work together on evidence-based, collaborative solutions to address an issue as complex as homelessness.
Homelessness is not new to our community and there has long been more people experiencing or at risk of homelessness here than the general public would like to admit.
Far before the community’s first provincial Homelessness Count in 2023, a 2011 City-coordinated report - “Powell River Homelessness Strategy - Final Report” - clearly identifies concerning trends in the housing market at that time, predicting that “…for our region…more than 250 people fall in the category of ‘absolute or hidden homelessness’. On top of that, more than 275 people fall in the category ‘relative homelessness’ and are just one paycheque away from becoming homeless.”
Reading it today, it’s hard to believe this report is 15 years old. Many of the challenges and recommendations are still applicable today. The long-standing and primarily invisible history of homelessness in our community is often overlooked in public discourse, with the implication that housing-specific supports (like Blackberry Creek supportive housing, and the Driftwood Shelter) have brought and worsened the issue in our community.
Housing programs do not create homelessness – they are a response to something that already exists. And this report clearly indicates that this issue has existed here for quite some time.
The report is available in-full on our website – take a read:
https://liftcommunityservices.org/2011-homelessness-report
