Bancroft’s homeless population speaks to the need for more support programs, especially for those who’ve experienced trauma.
That from Ellen Buck-McFadyen, a Trent University researcher who’s spent time getting to know people in the town who are unhoused and struggling with mental health and addictions.
Buck-McFadyen says there’s a community of about 20 homeless people in Bancroft, plus others who are less visible and whose movements are tougher to track.
She said there are common elements in their stories.
“Many of them haven’t finished high school; many of them have experienced trauma,” she says. “I would say the majority of people who use substances and are homeless, it’s because they’ve experienced great challenges in their lives and we haven’t had the systems around them to support them.”
She says most of the homeless people she met were “chronically homeless” people who were life-long residents of this area.
She emphasizes, for many Bancroft residents, the homeless are former classmates and neighbours who haven’t had great opportunities in life.