The city of Saint John, N.B., has teamed up with local agencies to help clean up vacated encampment sites on municipal property.
“They don’t want to just clean up the city,” says Homelessness Information Partnership of Saint John (HIPSJ) chair Kristen O’Hanley. “They want to bring some resources in and not harm anybody. They just wanted to identify what would be OK to do some maintenance on and what they should maybe keep their distance on.”
The pilot project has already seen one site disposed of, with five more set for dismantling in the near future. Once a vacant encampment is identified, the location is monitored for up to three days to ensure there are no occupants. City crews can then begin the removal of debris with the HIPSJ on site for assistance.
“They really do a great job of getting down to it,” according to O’Hanley. “When they left you would never know there was anything there. “
The goal is to have as many of the unspecified number of camps cleaned up before the local Out of the Cold shelter closes at the end of April.
“We might look into the future, trying to collaborate with some of the encampments that are also being used,” O’Hanley adds. “So that is by connecting with the individuals that are staying there and having them identify what’s OK for us to kind of help them clear out.”
The HIPSJ chair asks the public to be respectful of the vulnerable population during this process.
“Frustration really needs to be pointed at our systems that are failing people, not the people that are suffering most from those failed systems. We just want to bring resources instead of reinforcement and just try to help.”
