Centralizing homelessness services in Charlottetown 'exacerbates an already existing problem'

Too many services aimed to help people who are unhoused or in precarious housing situations are in Charlottetown, advocates told government officials at a meeting in eastern P.E.I. Thursday.

"People need to be housed and supported in their community and if we try to drive everybody to a centralized location it actually exacerbates an already existing problem," said Mike Redmond, president of The Equality Project, a non-governmental organization which aims to offer outreach services across the province.

"We are just not set up in Charlottetown to deal with that level and it has really taken the city by storm."

The strategy is a problem both for Charlottetown and the people being served, because it removes them from their community, he said.

"Their families are from there. They grew up in those communities," said Redmond.

"We're sending them to Charlottetown where they don't have any connections and really the supports they need just aren't there."

Just a handful of residents of the eastern P.E.I. community of Three Rivers attended the meeting hosted by the P.E.I. Legislature's standing committee on health and social development Thursday night at the Cavendish Farms Wellness Centre in Montague.

Redmond, spoke at length about homelessess at a meeting hosted by the P.E.I. Legislature's standing committee on health and social development. (Tony Davis/CBC)

It's the first of a series of public consultation sessions provincial lawmakers are holding to get Islanders' feedback on the issue of homelessness in the province. Meetings will also be held in O'Leary, Summerside and Charlottetown later this month.

Montague residents have previously told CBC News homelessness has become an increasingly visible problem in the community, with some urging the province to create an emergency shelter in Kings County to serve those who are struggling.

Many at the meeting suggested the provincial government look into a program where people can rent out or offer rooms in their homes for those experiencing homelessness.

In 2021, local MLA Cory Deagle — who's now fisheries and tourism minister and sits on the legislative committee — called for Montague's old Riverview Manor to be converted into a shelter. The province so far hasn't signaled whether it's moving in that direction.

About a half dozen people participated in a rally to raise awareness about the community's homelessness problem late last month. (Jane Robertson/CBC)

In September about a half dozen people participated in a rally outside Deagle's office to raise awareness about homelessness in the community.

Where's the data?

Information on just how many people are homeless in Canada's rural communities is scarce. The province told CBC News back in June that a report on the community's needs was expected to be finalized this summer.

The number of people facing homelessness in King's County is hard to nail down, Redmond said.

"I think there are a lot of people couch surfing. I think there are a lot of people who are homeless, but I think there is a real need for people living on the margins cheque to cheque," Redmond said.

'It's only getting worse,' says Norma Dingwell, who runs the Montague Food Bank. (Tony Davis/CBC)

There isn't enough shelter support across the Island to deal with demand for services which could help the unhoused population, he said.

"We don't just need shelters. We need transitional housing, we need supportive housing," he said, adding that the cost of living in general is causing an increase in demand for services.

"The cost of living, cost of gas, cost of food. Everything has gone up."

Emergency shelter not the solution

Norma Dingwell, who runs the Montague Food Bank, is seeing the need for food increase in the community first hand.

"People are living in their cars because they can't afford rent. It's not that they are not working… They can't afford rent, lights, food, their phone, everything," Dingwell said.

The food bank's first open day this month was busy, she said.

"We had 76 families, which is 224 people, and that's just the beginning of the month. It's only getting worse. We've had an increase of at least 40 per cent going from this time last year to now."

Janice MacBeth, who lives in the Three Rivers area, says she is worried about outreach services being set up in the community. (Tony Davis/CBC)

What the province needs is a universal basic income guarantee program, she said.

"If we had basic income I think everyone would be able to afford a roof over their head and we wouldn't need shelters. They would have their own homes, their own bathrooms, their own place to cook meals," she said.

Earlier this year, Social Development Minister Barb Ramsay said her government is still committed to implementing a basic income and is working to bring in a program within the next four years, something the province will need federal support to accomplish. P.E.I. has been quietly operating its own targeted basic income pilot program.

'It made me really scared'

Janice MacBeth, who lives in the Three Rivers area, isn't in support of a shelter in the community.

"When the conversation about a homeless shelter started in Montague. I was open to the idea," MacBeth said.

"When I realized what was happening with the outreach centre in Charlottetown it made me really scared."

There have been several community and public meetings surrounding issues neighbours of the Community Outreach Centre on Euston Street in Charlottetown have had. Residents in the area have said they often witness public drug use, deal with property damage, trespassing and threats. Many people in the area have told CBC News they feel unsafe in their homes and think the centre needs to move from its location which is near two schools.

"I'm scared. This is where I grew up this is where all my connections are," MacBeth said.

"I'm scared because I realized after the meeting in Charlottetown about the outreach centre what the community was living with. They were living with fear. They were living with violence."

Some of MacBeth's concerns surround posts she has seen on Facebook about several people coming from out of province to access services on Prince Edward Island, she said.

Some residents who live near the the Community Outreach Centre on Euston in Charlottetown have said they often witness public drug use, deal with property damage, trespassing and threats. (Kevin Yarr/CBC)

In the month of June 283 people accessed services at the Community Outreach Centre and five of them were not from Prince Edward Island. In July, 293 people accessed services, with seven not from P.E.I., said Roxanne Carter-Thompson, executive director of The Adventure Group, the operator of the centre.

In a motion put forward during the meeting, Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly urged engagement with communities across the province on homelessness.

'It's getting to be a crisis situation,' says Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly. (Tony Davis/CBC)

"I know there are gaps and needs there in the community. We have high inflation rates, high rates of unhoused populations and the situation is stressful," said McNeilly.

"The standing committee could be a great way for Islanders to come and talk and just see what is going on in their communities."

A lot of what McNeilly heard from the meeting in Montague is that people want to stay in their communities and access support there, he said.

"You don't want to have to centralize the service, and that is exactly what we have done in Prince Edward Island. And it takes people out of communities and it doesn't give them a sense of home," McNeilly said.

"It's getting to be a crisis situation whether it be couch surfing, living rough… we've got to really come forward with some solutions and the government has got to be able to move faster."

The next public consultation meeting will be held at St. Anthony's Parish in O'Leary on Oct. 16. Information on how to register to attend or make written submissions can be found on the province's website.