Some people facing homelessness in Summerside being sent to Park Street shelter

The number of people facing homelessness in the province continues to grow, with overflow from P.E.I.'s second-biggest city often ending up in a Charlottetown shelter.

Megan Champion and her boyfriend have been living in a tent in the woods between two farm fields in Summerside for over a month.

"In Summerside, there is absolutely nothing for couples… we're forced to be split up. And that option is not even available right now because there is the Lifehouse for women, but like, it's full every time you call," she said.

"There are just not enough places."

When she isn't able to access shelter services in Summerside, Champion is sent to Park Street Emergency Shelter in Charlottetown. That doesn't really work for her, she told CBC News.

"I have two young boys who are at my mother's house who I take care of," she said. "I had no way back up to Summerside to look after my kids."

Officials with the province confirmed people facing homelessness in other parts of the province are often taken to the emergency shelter in Charlottetown to find a bed. They are usually taken from Summerside to Park Street by taxis at government expense, the province says, but "occasionally" people are transported by police car.

That Park Street shelter made up of modular units has been busy. In April, an average of 48 people stayed at the 50-bed shelter each night. In May, that average dropped slightly to 44 people.

'Full every night'

The men's shelter in Summerside run by the Native Council of P.E.I. has been pretty much at capacity since the 6-bed facility opened just over a month ago, said Chris Clay, housing co-ordinator with the council.

"We've been full every night. We have a pretty substantial waiting list of people wanting to come in," he said, adding tat more shelter spaces are needed in Summerside.

"I know there are people who have slipped through the cracks and are sleeping outside."

According to officials with the province, there are no low-barrier shelters for women in the Summerside area. That means if someone has been drinking or taking drugs before they arrive seeking a bed, they can be turned away.

The men's shelter is low barrier and doesn't turn people away because they are under the influence.

"I'm hoping our model will show other providers in the province a better way to go. These services are needed no matter what state you are in," Clay said.

Stayed with friends over the winter

Champion made it through the winter staying with some friends, but said she worries about not getting help when she needs it. This past winter, one of her friends who lives on the street lost parts of his fingers to frostbite, she said.

"I think the government people, and the council and stuff, they really need to stop ignoring the problem and start taking a look at the streets and really help their own instead of just ignoring it," she said.

You need to take a look around the streets and start helping your neighbours.— Megan Champion

"I think if the government actually was to go to the streets and talk to some of us instead of just trying to push us underneath a rug, that would be a big help."

Champion was staying in a tent in Friendship Park near the Prince County Hospital but police told her she had to leave, she said.

She has a message for Summerside councillors: "You need to take a look around the streets and start helping your neighbours."

Ivy Inkpen has been helping people living on the streets for the last two years. She worries recent and pending evictions from hotels in Summerside to make room for tourists could add to the number of people experiencing homelessness.

"There is no housing," Inkpen said, adding that she doesn't think moving people who are unhoused in Summerside to Charlottetown is a good idea.

"When they do go to Charlottetown, if they are at the Park Street modules, they are asked to leave at eight in the morning and they are not allowed back until eight o'clock at night. And the people in this community — they don't want that."

Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but he did discuss issues around housing at a committee meeting earlier this month.

"Our unhoused population is a very difficult one to pin down and identify what the numbers are because a lot of people who are unhoused in our community are unhoused in situations where they are on a couch or in a trailer — or a lot of people who are living unhoused don't want people to know exactly where they are," he said.

"We have seen that population increase as the cost of living has gone up and the availability of housing has gone down."

Kutcher has been asking the province for an emergency shelter in Summerside. Last Thursday, Rob Lantz, minister of housing for the province, said he is working on solutions with Summerside City Council to address homelessness.

The province will be publishing monthly numbers for all shelters on P.E.I. and the Charlottetown-based Community Outreach Centre on the province's website starting at the end of June, officials told CBC News this week.