Charlottetown forum on homelessness, safe spaces brings together organizations to discuss action
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — When Roxanne Carter-Thompson acquired an invite to a discussion board on homelessness in Charlottetown, she wished the day to be about motion.
Thompson, the manager director of the Journey Group, joined dozens of different “group stakeholders” on Might 11 for a mayor’s dialog on secure areas and homeless encampments.
The Journey Group oversees the Neighborhood Outreach Centre, the place many tent encampment residents acquired companies final summer time.
That’s why Carter-Thompson was invited to the mayor’s daylong occasion, held at Jack Blanchard Corridor in Charlottetown.
The day included alternatives within the morning for people to talk, earlier than working in teams within the afternoon.
By 1 p.m., Carter-Thompson mentioned she was happy that motion was the purpose of the day.
“If I believed this was simply going to finish up in a doc on a shelf, I’d say it wasn’t a great way to spend my day. I consider there’s going to be tangible motion come from this.”
Assembly
Although the occasion was about homelessness, it was not meant for the precise unhoused inhabitants. There was some confusion about this initially, nonetheless, and Carter-Thompson invited two of the COC’s shoppers.
One among them confirmed up, a bit late, however participated within the afternoon portion, she mentioned.
“He didn’t get to take part within the dialogue, however he did get to listen to … the wrap-ups. After which we made positive that he obtained two playing cards and post-it notes, and he obtained to present enter that can be included within the report.”
The occasion was additionally not open to most people or media, although SaltWire was knowledgeable of the occasion by the town.
SaltWire went to the occasion on Might 11 however was turned away on the door.
Whereas Charlottetown has a municipal authorities that makes choices, it’s also a authorized company that does enterprise with different companies, Charlottetown CAO Eleanor Mohammed advised SaltWire on Might 11. She added that on this capability, it might probably maintain closed conferences that aren’t topic to the Municipal Authorities Act, the identical as any enterprise would.
Different attendees
Different organizations that attended the assembly included the John Howard Society, Charlottetown Police Companies, Charlottetown Mutual Support, PEERS Alliance, Charlottetown Space Chamber of Commerce and the Charlottetown Hearth Division.
Angele DesRoches, PEERS Alliance program director, mentioned in a Might 12 electronic mail that the discussion board was nicely facilitated. This allowed a stability of various views on homelessness within the metropolis, she mentioned.
“The problems are sophisticated, however the resolution is pretty easy and apparent. We have to add precise, acceptable housing models at each level on the housing continuum, and municipal governments definitely have a job to play.”
Mayor, deputy mayor
Mayor Philip Brown and deputy mayor Alanna Jankov met with SaltWire on the finish of the session to debate what they realized.
Brown’s greatest takeaway was how widespread the difficulty has change into, with municipalities past Charlottetown seeing rising numbers of unhoused individuals.
“This didn’t begin within the final yr. This has been constructing,” he mentioned. “Municipalities didn’t sustain with the housing scenario, or the housing demand, and now we’re in a scenario the place we’re attempting to catch up.”
“We have been attempting to create a secure area for dialog, and the concern could be that providing for our weak society and our unhoused to return in, it may not really feel secure for these of us.” – Deputy Mayor Alanna Jankov
Jankov defined why the occasion was not meant to immediately contain the unhoused group.
“We have been attempting to create a secure area for dialog, and the concern could be that providing for our weak society and our unhoused to return in, it may not really feel secure for these of us.”
Extra dialogue can be coming with the unhoused group together with owners and different residents not concerned in Thursday’s occasion, Jankov mentioned.
Logan MacLean is a municipal reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He will be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @loganmaclean94.
