Is a ‘tea party’ brewing against Nanaimo’s progressive homelessness solution?
A group of residents living in the Townsite Road area of Nanaimo are reportedly still fuming about plans to build units of housing to house homeless people in their neighbourhood. The hospital-area facility is one of five that will be built in Nanaimo [opens to PDF] after funding was received from the provincial government.
The Hospital Area Neighbourhood Association (HANA) hosted an information meeting October 21st and then appeared at a city council meeting on Monday October 25th to present a petition against the low-barrier facility planned for the area.
HANA spokesperson Gwen Boyd told city council that the group has concerns for the safety of school children and seniors in the area, as well as questions about the staffing levels a low-barrier facility would require. She also pointed out that the hospital-area neighbourhood already hosts a range of social supports and wonders what benefits housing for the homeless would bring to the neighbourhood.
We speak with City of Nanaimo councillor Fred Pattje and former City of Nanaimo councillor and mayoral candidate Diane Brennan about the political implications of the situation.
We’re also joined by Gord Fuller, chairperson of the Nanaimo 7-10 Club, Canadian Mental Health Association Mid-Island executive director Christina Martens, and City of Nanaimo social planner John Horn to talk about the challenges of supportive housing programs.
CHLY citizen journalist Ryan Glover also joins us to share his thoughts after attending the hospital-area information meeting and a similar meeting held October 28th for a housing project in the Wesley area of the city.
Selected comments from the October 21, 2010 hospital-area meeting 255a_Nov_04_2010_sm
Selected comments from the October 28, 2010 Wesley Street-area meeting 255b_Nov_04_2010_sm
