More help coming for residents of St. John's airport hotel, Hutton says
11 people are currently living at Airport Road hotel
Newfoundland and Labrador's housing minister says more help is coming for residents of a new transitional housing facility on Airport Road in St. John's, but members of the opposition say residents aren't feeling supported.
"I would have preferred it to be a little bit quicker, obviously, but we want to do this right," Housing Minister Fred Hutton told reporters Wednesday.
"Rather than have people go in and feel as though they're not getting supports, and I know that one person had suggested that. [But] there are people on site."
During question period at the House of Assembly on Wednesday, Progressive Conservative MHA Joedy Wall said the Tories had been contacted by a former resident of the tent encampment in Bannerman Park who now lives on Airport Road.
"Despite promises of mental health counselling and wraparound supports, she has advised that nothing has been provided," Wall said.
"She feels betrayed and lied to. The individual compares the lack of supports to a private, for-profit shelter."
Hutton said he couldn't speak to the specific concerns brought up by Wall. The support is still being phased in, he said, and he expects more support to be in place over the coming weeks and months as staff are hired.
The provincial government is renting the former Comfort Inn at a cost of $6.9 million per year for three years to create a facility for transitional housing. A partnership with End Homelessness St. John's is turning the units into temporary accommodations with services and help for people to move into permanent housing.
Hutton said 11 people were living in the hotel as of Tuesday, with 10 staff on site.
NDP Leader Jim Dinn later said he had also spoken with a resident of the hotel, saying the person he spoke with felt forgotten.
"I feel like I'm in jail, put in segregation alone all by myself," said Dinn, reading a statement from the resident. "At least in jail, they have to allow visitors."
Hutton told reporters that residents can have visitors in common areas at the hotel. Doors that make rooms accessible through the hotel's parking lot have been disabled for security purposes, he added.
"The point of this…is to make sure that there is a point of entry that is secure. And if you're going to visit your loved one, your family member, your friend, that you go in through the main door," Hutton said.
Hutton said residents aren't being forgotten, and that services will be in place to help them.
"[Just] finding somewhere for someone to live is...not always the solution. Just putting them somewhere and walking away," he said.
"When people do open that door and they come out, they're not in an empty hallway. There's people around who can help, just down the hall."
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