St. Stephen gets drop-in centre for homeless people after controversial emergency order

St. Stephen is getting a round-the-clock drop-in centre for homeless people, after a week of controversy that saw the local council declaring a state of emergency and the province cancelling it.

The 24/7 centre will be run by Neighbourhood Works Inc., a local non-profit, and it was to open Friday night. It is located at the NWI building at 59 Union St., which the group already owns.  

The centre will not be a shelter with beds. 

"Offering respite from the cold, warm beverages, and limited food, the centre prioritizes immediate relief," said a news release put out late Friday afternoon by Jim Stuart, executive director of Neighbourhood Works.

"This is a temporary solution that cannot allow for sleeping arrangements due to regulatory constraints."

St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern told the CBC's Shift he was excited about the news and proud of the work done by Neighbourhood Works to bring it about.

"It's huge, this is huge to have a 24-hour drop-in, a place for individuals to be able to go in and eat, have a drink, and get some rest and take on this cold winter," MacEachern said.

"Hats off to that group, hats off to the community for putting the pressure on." He added that this progress only happened because of the emergency order council declared.

"I'm overwhelmed right now, it's a good feeling. I can't believe they pulled it off."

A manager, two staff and volunteers will be at the centre. An access worker will help get supplies and services for the homeless community. 

MacEachern said this service is a short-term solution, and the municipality is still working on a full shelter.

The release said Neighbourhood works is looking for donations and volunteers to help with the new centre, and MacEachern echoed the need for support for Neighbourhood Works.

He said the non-profit was already doing great work in St. Stephen, and the homeless problem in town would be "much worse" without them.

Week of controversy

On Monday, St. Stephen council declared a state of emergency, accusing the New Brunswick government of failure and "a lack of response" to the homelessness crisis. 

Council 's action followed the death of a homeless man, Adam Dickerson, in the community last weekend. MacEachern said at least 70 people in the town were homeless.

St. Stephen council and the province had discussed roughly 20 sites for a homeless shelter but did not settle on one before the state of emergency was called.

Public Safety Minister Kris Austin called the declaration "frivolous" and "political posturing" because homelessness did not represent a threat to the people of St. Stephen.

He said a state of emergency declaration is for "extreme, rare events" and not homelessness, and he voided the declaration.

MacEachern called the comments from Austin "petty."

Austin added to the controversy on Wednesday, when he told the legislature that homelessness in St. Stephen was the result of "Trudeau policies, leftist agendas that are degrading our society."

MacEachern said on Shift that he had no regrets about how the week was handled. 

"Whether we were supposed to do an emergency order in the eyes of the province or not, I seriously at this point don't care, because it did what we're doing now at 7 o'clock tonight," he said.

"If anything, we're going to take the wind that came out of that, the energy, and keep harnessing this energy, because we're not done yet."