Agenda Package - City of Vernon

Evaluation of Homelessness Strategy for the North Okanagan
4.
5.
limited but not made apparent to the interviewer. While it was exceedingly rare to use
the observations of a s¡ngle individual in respect of any broad statement, the result of
inadvertently utilizing these uninformed responses may have resulted in some
weaknesses in certain broader assertions made and conclusions drawn.
Our investigations look at a single point in time and it is not only conceivable that
changes will have occurred between the start of the study investigation and the
preparation of this report, but quite likely. As such, certain observations and
conclusions presented herein may be less/more relevant than when initially posed'
Finally, at the risk of being trite, as in any evaluative effort it seems lhal "everything thot
con be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cqnnot necessarily be
counted." And such was the challenge in this effort, the impacts of which are that some
accomplishments which were truly notable, e.g. the bringing together of service
agencies and individuals to work on a common cause, did not lend themselves to ready
measurement even though intuitively we are well aware of the importance of this
accomplishment and even though we are well aware that without this accomplishment
other efforts would have been at best less successful.
Notwithstanding the collective import of these limitations the analyses undertaken and
the observations made throughout this report, are germane, realistic and supportable'
(-ON-fhX-l' ¡\ND B'\(,KGROUNI)
As articulated in the terms of reference for this assignment, this is not an analysis of
homelessness, but rather an evaluation of a homelessness strategy and the relative successes
achieved in implementing that strategy. That being said it is important to understand the
context of the homelessness challenge and the circumstances in which the strategy was
developed.
2.7 Flomelessness
There are numerous definitions of homelessnessT; and while there appears to be no
commonly accepted definition amongst the various agencies and authorities interested in
and/or charged with the responsibility to address homelessness, from the layman's perspective
LF';
Þh¡lll
. r.Ì¡fi -*
7 lmportantly for our purposes we accept that there is a distinct difference between homeless and homelessness'
When we speak about homeless we generally mean being without a home. When we speak of homelessness we
imply a set of social problems.
Lochaven Management Consultants Ltd.
November 2010
Page '11 80