Frustration in Sudbury's Flour Mill over disruptive behaviour blamed on transitional housing complex

People living in the Flour Mill neighbourhood of Sudbury say they feel their once-pleasant neighbourhood has become unsafe and frightening because of an increase in unsheltered people seeking services at a nearby drop-in and transitional housing complex.

They blame Sudbury's Transitional Centre for Care for attracting substance users to the largely residential area just outside the city's core.

The centre was founded at 492 Notre Dame Ave. in 2021 to provide daytime programs and services for the unsheltered.

It also went on to open 46 transitional housing units, essentially rooms for both sober clients and those engaged in harm reduction strategies.

During the winter, residents said they saw an uptick in traffic among substance users and vulnerable people as the city provided funding for the drop-in centre to extend its hours.

That funding ran out at the end of April. The drop-in has reverted to shorter day-time hours and currently does not receive any city funding.

Residents have been petitioning to get the centre to leave the area, complaining of aggressive panhandling, threats of violence, weapons, public urination, public drug use, dirty needles and generally disruptive and destructive behaviour.

Few have been willing to share their names citing fear of their personal safety.

However, Roger Doucet, who owns six apartment buildings in the area, was not shy about putting his views on record.

"It's a war zone," he said.

Doucet said he's had his garage broken into and his car damaged because of his opposition to the centre and its clients.

He said he collects dirty needles and other drug paraphernalia, and dumps them on the steps of the drop-in to express his displeasure.

His frustration extends to what he sees as a lack of action by police and social services, giving a recent example.

Frustration over lack of accountability, enforcement

He said he had taken his boat to the Ramsey Lake public boat launch to go fishing and encountered two men using drugs in the overhang of the boat ramp.

When he asked them to move over, he said, they cursed at him.

"I called the cops," he said. "The cops told me that I should not have confronted them. So why do they become the untouchables and we have to deal with all their ills? And how's it fixed? I don't know."

In response, Sudbury police issued a statement that there is no question that addiction, homelessness and mental illness have created a vulnerable population that law enforcement and the criminal justice system are ill equipped to deal with. 

A spokesperson said relying only on police criminalizes already marginalized individuals and does little to deter crime.

Instead, Kaitlyn Dunn said, there are partnerships with Health Sciences North to provide a Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team to attend high-risk, high complaint areas to support people in need.

She said police will continue to work to help provide wrap-around services to address the root causes of social disorder.

It's hard to be friendly and heart-bearing about it because I've dealt with too much of it and there's nothing you can do.- Roger Doucet, Flour Mill resident and landlord

That's little comfort to people like Doucet who feel the support is all on the side of the vulnerable population.

"It's hard to be friendly and heart-bearing about it because I've dealt with too much of it and there's nothing you can do," he said.

The founder and executive director of Sudbury's Transitional Centre for Care, Jehnna Morin, said it is difficult to see people who are in crisis.

She said she understands why some people feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood.

"I have witnessed many of those frightening situations where you know someone is in crisis and they may be in psychosis from using substances and then that does present a lot of dangerous behaviours."

But Morin encourages people to engage with social services, such as the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Unit, and to try to de-escalate tensions rather than being confrontational.

She said she also tries to understand the point of view of those who don't agree with harm reduction principles and encourages them to have more empathy.

"This is someone who has struggled through traumatic events and this is how they cope, unfortunately, because they were not given other tools and mechanisms," she said. "And I just pray for those who don't understand that it doesn't happen to them or anyone that they love."

As for the drop-in centre itself, she said it will be moving, although not in response to complaints.

Morin said it will be re-locating to another area closing to existing services for the homeless population, although she wouldn't say exactly where or when.

However, she said the transitional housing on Notre Dame will continue to operate where it is.