Drop-In Centre board member confronted over project

Thorncliffe and Greenview residents gathered Tuesday night to once again air concerns over the Calgary Drop-In Centre’s new social housing project proposed for the area.

The centre is converting a Quality Inn hotel into a low income housing complex.

But the meeting in the northeast became heated as residents shared fears over the project. Angry residents even confronted a Drop-In Centre board member in the parking lot.

"We were not given direct answers to our questions. We were given the run around," one woman told the community’s former alderman, John Schmal, who has sat on the DI board since 2004 when he retired from council.

'I think the Drop-In Centre got mobbed and lynched here tonight.' — Drop-In Centre board member John Schmal

"I will make sure they get the information," Schmal told the woman.

But Schmal was worried about the tone of the meeting, which Drop-In Centre officials were not invited to.

"I think the Drop-In Centre got mobbed and lynched here tonight," he said.

He said the process isn’t fair to residents on either side of the issue.

"The way this is going this will never be resolved," Schmal told gathered residents. "We need a fairer process then what I’ve seen here tonight. ... In my years in office I’ve never seen this kind of process. It would not have happened if I had been the alderman here — both sides would have had the same opportunity."

Last meeting didn't go so well

He said it was hard to get details out to residents in the last meeting held by the Drop-In Centre on June 13 because of interruptions that dominated the information session.

CBC reporter Elizabeth Snaddon reported at the time that the agenda for the information session went sideways when several people in the audience interrupted with comments and jeers. She said one elderly gentleman commandeered a microphone and the meeting went off the rails.

But local resident Cathrine Reizevoor said Wednesday night that the project will hurt the community.

"Obviously crime will go up," she said. "Our property values are going to drop. Would you move into a neighbourhood that has a drop-in centre behind it?"

According to Drop-In Centre officials, they're trying to help the working poor — providing a safe place to live for those on fixed incomes or in abusive relationships. 

But residents say they were caught off-guard when the Drop-in Centre purchased the 117-room hotel.

The DI's executive director says legally they couldn't disclose the deal.

Many in the community say their neighbourhood does have a diverse population and have accepted addiction centres in the past, but they don’t want to sway too far.

"It's a really comfortable mix of people right now, so we don't want that tipping point to be tipping to, as one gentleman said, 'Ghettoize the community,'" said area resident Evie Stevenson.

Drop-In Centre officials say the plan is to rent out the suites to low income residents at $600 a month. They say they have a stack of applications already.

Below is the letter that was sent out to residents, inviting them to the meeting.