New task force will be assembled to tackle homelessness in Kelowna

KELOWNA – The City of Kelowna’s new strategy to combat homelessness now has a name. It will be called Journey Home.

The aim of the Journey Home strategy is to connect various social resources within the city. By offering a collective approach, the City hopes to redesign the current system.

“The community is going on a collective journey to support individual journey’s home,” social development manager Sue Wheeler says. “We need to create change by thinking and working differently.”

Wheeler says a new task force will be assembled to take a closer look at homelessness in Kelowna.

“The task force will recommend a strategy for homelessness… and how to implement it."

The task force will have 15 members which she says is a manageable size. The group will be active for a year.

“We need to redesign the system so everyone has trust in it,” Wheeler says. “By taking a step back we’ll be able to see where the systems fit in as a whole.”


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Jenna Hickman

Jenna has a combined honours degree in journalism and human rights from Carleton University, in Ottawa ON. After university Jenna took a year off to live with family in Cape Town and travel throughout southern Africa. A Kelowna native, she has interned at The Daily Courier and Global News Okanagan. Jenna is an avid yogi and enjoys all the Okanagan has to offer. She can be spotted on the mountain, whether hiking or skiing, or at a local winery, glass in hand.

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