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By Justin Dionne
Saint Lawrence Centre

Planning set to begin to address homelessness in the winter: City

Apr 4, 2019 | 7:26 AM

With Rotary House imposing capacity regulations, the Saint Lawrence Centre has closed its doors for the coming weeks, and questions about what will happen come winter are starting to arise.

The City’s Housing and Homeless Initiatives Supervisor Katherine Schmidt says work is going to be done between now and winter to address the issue of overcrowded homeless support centres.

“Looking forward towards winter, we can do a few things,” says Schmidt. “We can bring the community together to really look at what are going to be the gaps come winter, and what can we do before winter even hits to continue the trend of finding people appropriate housing.”

Schmidt explains the city has been actively involved with Rotary House and the Saint Lawrence Centre, and have been meeting with them weekly, as well as monitoring accommodations stats. She says in the last week, some of the displaced people have found room and board situations, some have found apartments, a couple have accessed treatment programs, and others have left the city to live with family. While some of the displaced people have had luck finding a place to live, Saint Lawrence Centre Project Lead Jared Gossen says others have likely taken shelter in sheds in areas close to the centre, or have created camps in Muskoseepi Park.

One of the projects the City has been working on to help with the issue of homelessness is the two-year pilot project with the Parkside Inn, which Schmidt highlights as one of the initiatives that has seen success in providing people experiencing homelessness a place to live. She explains the facility has 40 individuals living there who are receiving 24-hour support.

Concerns have been raised about more needles being found on the street due to displacement of people at the Saint Lawrence Centre, too. Schmidt says they’re expecting to find a number of needles when the city undergoes its spring clean up. She makes special mention of the work HIV North is doing with placing needle drop boxes wherever they’re needed. HIV North has also rolled out a mobile supervised consumption service.

“We have an opportunity window between now and when fall and winter happen. I think we focus on a couple of things. We focus on continuing to house individuals and find the right supports for the right individual. We know and we’ve been hearing lots, not just in Grande Prairie, but across the province, about the opioid crisis. So we know it’s not going to be just the shelter’s role, or the City of Grande Prairie’s support role, it’s going to be Alberta Health Services, mental health addiction support’s as well,” says Schmidt.

We can expect more details about what will happen with Rotary House and the Saint Lawrence Centre as their rules and regulations are discussed over the next couple weeks.

by Justin Dionne