Reasons for homelessness included eviction, family conflict and addiction or substance abuse.

Family conflict and drugs were both to blame when Guelph resident Curtis Slade found himself homeless.

Slade, 35, was one of the individuals surveyed last week. He said it was a breakup with his girlfriend that left him without a place to live.

“We had a fight and she kicked me out,” he said. “It was our place, but it was easier for me to leave.”

But he admitted drugs were also involved.

But being on the street didn’t make it easier for Slade, who said he’s been using substances since he was 11, to deal with his drug problem.

“To be homeless and be on the streets, you pretty much have to use drugs just to survive,” he said, explaining that drugs offer an escape from the harsh realities of life.

With drugs comes crime, said Slade, who has been through the court system.

Last July, Slade overdosed, which led to a three-week stay in hospital, where he learned he had hepatitis C. From there, he came to the drop-in centre, which provided help with temporary housing.

He is currently in temporary housing, unemployed and hoping to qualify for disability.

Slade didn’t mind being surveyed for the 20,000 Homes Campaign, saying “hopefully it will lead to more affordable housing.” He also admitted the Tim Hortons gift cards that were being offered to participants were added incentive.

“I know a lot of people did it more than once,” Slade said.

That is one reason that the committee’s data may be a little skewed.

“We think we were able to catch most of the duplicates,” said Ellery at the debriefing.

Last year’s rough “point-in-time” count showed a rough estimate of more than 300 homeless, she said. But when more in-depth surveys were done, that number dropped significantly.

The numbers may change again, when the committee begins to look at the information collected in more detail, Ellery said.

One of the next steps “is just to refine all the analysis of all the data we have,” she said. “We’ll likely take some of the major themes that come out of that report and dig deeper.”

The committee has set a goal of housing 30 of the most vulnerable local homeless people over the next six months.

During the debriefing, several people who had experienced homelessness in the past spoke to the group, and their stories emphasized the significance of having an address to call home.

“When you do anything in society, they ask for your address,” said Ed Anderson, who told how he struggled with homelessness after being released from jail.

It was a long struggle for him, but now he has a place to live and said it makes all the difference.

“The only reason I’m out of jail is that I have an address,” he said. Holding onto that address is incentive not to give up, because “it’s worth keeping,” he said.

The committee’s goal of housing 30 people may not seem like much when there are more than 250 homeless, but it is meant to be a manageable goal, said Gail Hoekstra, Welcome In Drop In Centre’s director and a member of the 20,000 Homes leadership committee.

“If our goal was 257, that’s not going to be reached,” she said.

She also said that finding homes for those who are most difficult to house will hopefully mean that finding homes for others will follow more easily.

Finding 30 homes would be a success over the next six months, said Hoekstra, noting the initiative will not stop there.

“If we can do 30, let’s do 30 more,” and so on, she said.