Housing insecurity and homelessness are not just urban issues. From the 2020 Rural Homelessness Estimation, 42 of the 52 residents surveyed identified as homeless or housing insecure.   

The County has been part of various initiatives to learn more about the reality of homelessness and housing insecurity in our rural area and to work on identifying support for residents.  

If you are in the County of Grande Prairie and are experiencing homelessness, needing information on supports or at risk of homelessness and need help connecting to support, help is available through Centerpoint Facilitation Rural Homelessness Outreach Rural Homelessness | Center Point Facilitation (mycenterpoint.ca)

2023 Housing and Service Needs Estimation (Rural Homelessness Estimation)

Thank you to all who participated in our 2023 Housing and Service Needs Estimations Survey! Sharing your insight and your experiences helps us understand and address housing and service needs in our community.  The survey is now closed, a summary of the report will be posted when available. 

 

Participating Agencies Include: 

  • County of Grande Prairie FCSS
    • Wellington Resource Centre
    • Hythe and Area Community Programs
  • Town of Beaverlodge FCSS
  • Town of Sexsmith FCSS
  • Seniors Outreach
  • Youth Emergency Shelter
  • Centerpoint Facilitation – Rural Homelessness Outreach
  • Odyssey House
  • Hythe and Area Foodbank
  • Wembley Food bank
  • Local Libraries in Hythe, LaGlace, Valhalla and Elmworth
  • Rising Above
  • St. Larwence Centre
  • Wapiti House
  • Hythe Community Centre
    • Hythe Thrift Store
    • South Peace Rural Community Learning
  • Family Education Society
  • Grande Spirit
  • Dew Drop Inn

Contact us for more information: email.

Getting to the Root of Rural Homelessness

Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) from the County of Grande Prairie and the Towns of Beaverlodge, Sexsmith and Wembley partnered on a collaborative study to learn about the root causes of rural housing instability and homelessness, and to develop locally-driven solutions.  

In early 2022, a series of community consultations were held to gather feedback about rural homelessness, housing insecurity and solutions to support local residents, including two drop-in open house sessions, one-on-one conversations and an online survey.

Through the consultations, interested individuals and key players were identified to support local solutions, and identify responses and interventions. The final report on the community consultations will be available on this page after March 2022. Following the FINAL REPORT the Task Force will be established to set actionable outcomes to work toward.  

Join the task force to support local solutions 

Are you interested in the topic of housing insecurity in our local area? Want to be part of developing safe, secure, and dependable solutions in our rural communities? Reach out to learn more and express interest in the Getting to the Root of Rural Homelessness task force by contacting County FCSS via email or calling 780-532-9727.

Rural Homelessness Estimations

The County of Grande Prairie, the towns of Beaverlodge, Wembley, Sexsmith, the Village of Hythe and the Rural Development Network (RDN) explored what homelessness looks like in our area in 2020.

Rural Homelessness Estimations

In 2018 and 2020, the County of Grande Prairie, Towns of Beaverlodge, Wembley, Sexsmith, the former Village of Hythe conducted Rural Homelessness Estimation projects to explore what homelessness looks like in our area. Supported by grant funding from the Rural Development Network (RDN), these estimations explored and established a baseline for rural homelessness across the area.