Homeless Hamilton residents brace for encampment clearings after court decision

Justine O'Donnell is weighing her options on a frosty morning in downtown Hamilton after the city broke up her encampment.

From here, I don't know," says O'Donnell, surveying a jumble of possessions she has stuffed into garbage bags and a recycling bin.

She lost one tent in Wednesday's teardown just outside city hall and says a replacement volunteers gave her was swiped Thursday.

It's now Friday, and the 34-year-old is mulling her next move after two more nights outside since authorities forced her and others to move along.

You've got to start over again and again and again," says O'Donnell, noting she has shifted from park to park since March.

Others living in tents across Hamilton are also bracing for displacement with the city again breaking up encampments after a court decision in its favour Tuesday.

The Hamilton Community Legal Clinic, representing five homeless applicants backed by doctors and outreach workers, had asked for an order restricting the city from enforcing its anti-tent bylaw.

But also weighing the evidence of city staff and shelter operators, Justice Andrew Goodman dismissed the application, ending a temporary freeze on enforcement.

The growing presence of encampments amid concurrent crises - housing, opioids and COVID-19 - has fuelled a polarizing public debate.

On the one hand, constituents have pushed city politicians to rid parks of tents, citing frustrations over discarded needles, noise, theft and human feces.

Others urge councillors to let homeless people in tents stay put until affordable options that take into account challenges like addiction and mental health are available.

City officials have noted a gap in health services to help keep people with acute needs off the street even if affordable units can be arranged for them.

They have also acknowledged a crunch in suitable shelter spaces, particularly in the women's sector, which has been stretched for many years.

Temperature dipping

As winter approaches, the concern is heightened - yet again.

What will happen is our spaces will be so full, we'll continue to turn away women," Medora Uppal, YWCA Hamilton's director of operations, said this week.

Eventually, women stop showing up, Uppal said.

That doesn't mean that they've actually found options; it means they're tired of being turned away. It's painful."

A recent addition of 15 beds to the women's system through Mission Services is positive but still falls short of what's needed, says Wendy Kennelly, associate executive director with the agency.

Not enough yet," she said, but a step in the right direction, for sure."

The city's housing division expects to report on a winter plans Nov. 18 and on ways to further bolster services, including considerations for the ongoing pandemic, in December.

• Before COVID-19 struck in March 2020, Hamilton had 326 shelter beds system-wide, a number since expanded to 615 spaces.

• Amid the pandemic, more than 70 people been housed directly from encampments, the city says.

• As of late September, roughly 100 people lived in tents across the city, according to court documents.

People who stay in tents give a range of reasons for not staying in shelters: drug-use prohibitions, curfews, theft, coronavirus, unavailable beds and service restrictions for behaviour that can be linked to addiction or mental illness.

But with temperatures dipping, shelter operators expect an influx, potentially influenced by the encampment clearings.

We'll need to monitor closely to see if there's space for them," said Katherine Kalinowski, chief operating officer of Good Shepherd Centres.

Until we implement some long-term real solution to homelessness, we're going to have do this dynamic response."

• As of noon Thursday, Kalinowski noted, the agency's family centre was full and had nearly as many families staying in hotel rooms. There were two spaces at Good Shepherd's men's shelter but room for up to 20 at its overflow facility. The agency's 13-bed youth shelter - the only emergency beds in the city for young people - had two available spaces. Its services for women, including those fleeing violence, were full.

• On Friday morning, Mission Services' men's shelter had five open spaces, while nine of 101 hotel rooms for singles and couples were expected to open up, Kennelly said. Intake at the violence-against-women shelter was halted amid a coronavirus outbreak.

• So far in November, the Salvation Army men's shelter on York Boulevard has been just under 90 per cent capacity on average," executive director James Moulton noted via email.

Enforcement resumes

Coun. Jason Farr has regularly aired his frustrations over a growing number of tents in his downtown ward, notably after council scrapped an encampment protocol with outreach partners Aug. 9.

Council voted to go back to doing what every other city does," Farr said Friday, which is enforcing its rules barring camping" in public spaces.

He noted city staff have told him most living in this this most inhumane and unsafe fashion" have been extended multiple offers over time for better options."

The choice was tents over shelter or hotels with supports to help get lives back on track," Farr said via text message.

But outreach worker Marcie McIlveen worries the encampment dismantlements - and the pace of them - will disperse people from crucial services.

They're just taking people's tents away and people are still outside now sleeping without a tent," McIlveen, who is with the Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team.

Removing tents won't stop visible drug use and it won't keep people from relieving themselves outside, she said.

Homelessness isn't resolved by taking away a piece of nylon," said McIlveen, who offered testimony in the bid to limit bylaw enforcement.

As of Thursday, the city said it had cleared roughly 23 tents from four encampment sites: where O'Donnell was staying outside city hall, John Rebecca Park, Durand Park and a parkette at the foot of the Claremont Access.

O'Donnell, who noted she has stayed at the YWCA's overnight drop-in program, said police suggested she and others move to the escarpment woods to avoid being hassled further.

I would be scary, well, unless I'm with people, as well."

Others, including a woman staying on a strip of grass at Strachan and Bay streets in the North End, also said police suggested the escarpment to her.

That would distance her from vans that drop by with food and supplies, said Sherri Ogden, 28.

Mind you, I've camped out there before."

In an email, Hamilton police spokesperson Jackie Penman said she couldn't confirm that is what is being said," but noted Social Navigator, a partnership with paramedics, offers to help line up housing and shelter.

Not far from Ogden, Frank Grimm was preparing to pack up his belongings having secured a bed at Mission Services this week.

I knew this was coming," said Grimm, 68, who was evicted from his home before resorting to sleeping outside.

I don't mind camping, but this is not my choice," he said, noting he plans to do paperwork to receive his pensions and rent a place soon. I want a roof over my head."

Meanwhile, in the east end, Marielle Servais was also bracing to move. Word was the cluster of tents she shares with others near the Red Hill Valley Parkway would be cleared soon.

I have nowhere to go. I have no family here," said Servais, who has lived at the entrance to the recreational trail since June.

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com