West End Shelter Update
On November 23, the City’s Executive Committee recommended that Council approve $7.5 million in funding for Jasper Place Wellness Centre and Tallcree Nation to operate 209 emergency shelter spaces at a former hotel at 15540 Stony Plain Road. The proposal includes 150 congregate living spaces and 59 private rooms.
If approved, the number of shelter spaces in Edmonton this winter would total 1,281 once all spaces are operational.
While the Government of Alberta recently supplemented its 622 permanent shelter spaces with funding for an additional 450 temporary spaces for the upcoming winter, permanent emergency shelters continue to face capacity pressures.
Homeward Trust’s By Name List indicates that more than 2,650 Edmontonians are experiencing homelessness. About 1,250 of those individuals are primarily sleeping in emergency shelters or outdoors each night.
Services would include 24/7 staffing and security, drug poisoning response, health services and case management support.
While I know many in the west end understand the need to have a shelter in the west end, I also appreciate that there may be some who have some initial hesitation as they aren't familiar with the current challenges so I want to provide some information to help answer common questions.
There are many people experiencing homelessness who are living in the west end. Based on how often this is raised at the doors and at community meetings, including the Terra Losa AGM on Tuesday, this is likely well known.
Since there are already many individuals living in the parks and spending a lot of time in the transit centres in communities within the ward, it makes far more sense to provide a building where people can be warm, have a bed, and get access to some of the supports they need.
There is occasionally a perception that having a shelter will be a draw for criminal activity. While not accurate, it's important to note that these shelters will be operating 24/7 with staffing on site at all times to provide the necessary support for those staying at the shelter.
Recently, I met with a business owner on Stony Plain Road along with some of the EPS beat officers. The business owner was talking about some of the challenges at the Jasper Place Transit Centre as their business is adjacent to that space.
EPS also discussed how the challenges are primarily related to criminal activity and not those experiencing homelessness. Some of those criminals will prey on those in a vulnerable state.
By providing a 24/7 space for those in need, it helps remove some of the opportunity for those who are actually criminals from taking advantage of those in need. There will also be 24/7 security on site to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone.
While City Council is going to fund this temporary shelter, I need to repeat this important point every time we discuss shelters and housing:
Housing and shelter operations, including the funding to provide these services, is the jurisdiction of the provincial government.
I don't share this to pass the buck because clearly over the last number of years, City Council has invested approximately $132 million to help build supportive and affordable housing. That funding also doesn't include the funding we have provided over the last few years to help address the lack of shelter spaces.
So while we have invested a lot of resources into this, since it's not the jurisdiction of the city, every dollar we invest in this very important issue, is a dollar we cannot invest in the services that we are responsible for.
Considering we have seen a number of people die on the streets in the last two weeks and many other people are losing limbs due to frostbite, we cannot sit back and do nothing because doing nothing is resulting in the tragic loss of life.
I hope that the provincial government will ultimately reimburse us for the $7.5 million we have to spend on the temporary shelter because we are using our financial stabilization reserve to fund this whereas the province has a $13 billion surplus.
Summary: While I know some people may have some initial concerns, I hope this information helps provide some comfort. I could spent a lot more time on this but I wanted to get some initial information out as some questions are coming in.
And since a few people have raised this, I live 10 blocks from this shelter. I also have regularly advocated for permanent supportive housing to be built next door to me. I have seen the positive impact of 24/7 supportive housing and know that it helps improve community safety and well-being so that is why I am more than willing to support shelters and housing being built close to or next to my home.
Thanks for your time and if you have any questions or comments, please share them in the comments below. Please note that while I know some people might have concerns, comments need to be respectful. There are ways to express concerns that don't dehumanize our neighbours who are experiencing homelessness.
