Brantford population count: 50% of homeless are First Nations

“Applicants for housing have a 15 year wait. During this two year period that I waited, I have had 28 women that have gone missing, and I've had three women that have been killed,” said Alma Arguello, Executive Director Brantford Native Housing.

BRANTFORD – In a city where over 50 per cent of people experiencing homelessness are Indigenous, advocates fear what will happen to 680 people on a 15-year-waitlist for Indigenous housing support. Brantford-Brant’s 2023 “Point in Time” count found 52 per cent of people experiencing homelessness in Brantford are Indigenous, as reported to city council on December 6. Point in Time (PiT) counts are a measure of the number of homeless people in targeted areas on a given day or night. It found Brantford’s total population numbered 104,685 residents. According to 2021’s count, 36 percent of those surveyed in the city of Brantford self-identified as Indigenous, and 2018’s PiT showed 35 percent, said Maria Visocchi, Brantford’s communications director. That’s a disproportionate figure, since 5.25 percent of people living in Brantford identified…

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