A light was shone on youth homelessness in Kamloops during the first council meeting.
One of the few orders of business for the new Kamloops council on Tuesday was declaring “Camp-Out to End Youth Homelessness Week” for Dec. 9-15.
Executive director of A Way Home Kamloops Society, Katherine McParland, says 136 youth in Kamloops have been homeless at some point in the past year.
“Ninety-two of these youth told us that they were without a home that week, May 8 to 10,” McParland says. “We know that the need is there, and it’s time for our community to act and respond.”
Mayor Ken Christian commended McParland and her group’s efforts to shed light on the issue.
“The realities of spending a night out on the streets of Kamloops is a very daunting kind of thing, but unfortunately something that youth and adults endure all of the time.”
The society will be leading a camp-out on Dec. 15 for a second straight year to raise awareness of the issue.
McParland says all of councillors Dale Bass, Mike O’Reilly and Kathy Sinclair have committed to taking part, and she invited all of council to participate. There will also be 160 members of the society involved in the camp-out.