A newly opened shelter project in Charlottetown is already busy as the winter season sets in.
Twenty-five new beds opened Friday, a major increase in available emergency shelter beds in the city. Ten people stayed that evening, 17 overnight Saturday, and 19 on each of the last two nights.
That’s good news according to the Adventure Group, one of the larger organizations providing support to homeless people in the city.
“It’s providing them an option to be able to have safe housing where they don’t have to worry about the roof over their head,” said Roxanne Carter-Thompson, Adventure Group's executive director.
“And there’s supportive staff there to help them to be able to connect with other organizations.”
There is a shuttle from the site for people to access support services around the city, including the Adventure Group’s Community Outreach Centre.
“We’re open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Park Street is open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.,” said Carter-Thompson. “So, that provides 24-hour service for the individuals who are utilizing both of our services.”
The beds were announced late last summer in response to a growing homelessness issue in the city.
An encampment, first near a Holland College parking lot and then relocated to the Charlottetown Event Grounds, was home to dozens of people camped out over the intervening months. Some are still there.
“In the Charlottetown area, there was a significant number of individuals sleeping rough outside and encampments,” said Jason Doyle, Housing Services' director. “This was in direct response to seeing that need.”
When we spoke with people who told us they had used the new facility, some said it felt like a jail.
They mentioned the fences and a concrete intake building with metal detectors and screening rooms.
“We’re trying to create a very delicate balance of safety and feeling like a home-type atmosphere,” said Doyle. “We did have a requirement from the city for fencing around the area."
The units here are exactly the kind camp workers in northern Alberta are housed. That’s where they were also purchased from.
Organizers say it’s quite unique, adding there are very few provincial governments running this type of housing program.
Building B opened Friday. Building A is still being set up, plumbed in and having all the necessary construction done on it.
It’s supposed to be ready by this Friday and open another 25 beds, for 50 total.
