Advocates say Moncton needs new permanent homeless shelter
Temporary shelter set to close March 31 has been housing about 50 people a night
A new permanent homeless shelter is required in Moncton says an advocate as a temporary shelter opened downtown last fall is poised to close at the end of March.
Lisa Ryan with YMCA's ReConnect street outreach service, said the number of homeless people in the area has risen to the point existing shelters can't keep up once a temporary shelter closes March 31.
ReConnect is one of the groups running the Assumption Boulevard shelter with funding from the city and province. The shelter opened amid community pressure to do more to address homelessness last fall.
It sleeps about 50 people per night. Similar numbers have been reported by the Humanity Project, which also opened a temporary overnight shelter with private donations.
"The shelters we have in the city could not absorb that full amount," Vincent Merola, the City of Moncton's community development officer for social inclusion, said of the 100 or so people housed at the two temporary shelters.
He said community groups want provincial assistance for a new "wet" shelter, meaning it would allow consumption of substances like alcohol on site. The city's two main shelters — the House of Nazareth and Harvest House — are both "dry."
Merola said discussions with the province are still at a preliminary stage. The idea of using such a shelter as a supervised drug-consumption site has also been raised.
Sarah Williams, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development, said in an email the province will continue to work with other levels of government and community groups on short- and long-term solutions to homelessness.
Meanwhile, both Ryan and Merola said they're awaiting word from the province about its affordable housing plan.
The federal government announced a $40-billion national housing strategy in late 2017, with millions set to flow through the province over 10 years, including money for community-led efforts. New Brunswick announced it would develop a housing plan in fall 2017.
The federal money is expected to flow April 1.
Waiting for provincial plan
"We're still kind of all waiting," Ryan said about the province's plan for how the money will be used. "We've never heard much word about how it will look or where the funds will be allocated."
Williams, the provincial spokesperson, said the plan will be released once complete.
Ryan called the lack of detail so far frustrating when trying to develop a local plan.
In Moncton, a consultant hired by the city completed a local affordable housing implementation plan that's been waiting for the province's plan. City staff will present it to city council April 1.
"We can't wait any longer on the province to come up with something," Merola said. He said aspects of the city's plan would help entice construction of new affordable housing units, though he declined to say more as it has yet to be provided to council.
Dorothy Shephard, New Brunswick's minister of social development, said last week on Information Morning Fredericton's political panel that the plan has faced "hurdles" because of negotiations between the province and federal government.
The minister said the levels of government are at odds over using the funding to build new affordable housing or for rent subsidies.
"They want all of the housing units to come from government — public housing — as opposed to having private sector and we use rent subsidies a lot to provide housing because we want individuals to be in mixed-income type properties," Shephard said.
Subsidies not enough, Ryan says
But Ryan said rent supplements shouldn't be the only answer. She said the people ReConnect helps have often been denied by landlords.
"To give an individual a subsidy and say 'You can have the subsidy, you can find the landlord' is oftentimes a worthless piece of paper because landlords will just not rent to our individuals," Ryan said.
She said there have also been instances where tenants placed in apartments without sufficient support services have caused damage, so she understands why landlords may be hesitant. But she called it a form of discrimination.
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