Action on Hamilton shelter crisis urged ahead of forecast deep freeze

If she can't be indoors, Marielle Servais says her best bet is the tight-knit group that has formed around her.

This is my safety net," says Servais, referring to the core residents of her east Hamilton encampment.

They have lived in tents pitched on a patch of dirt by the entrance to the Red Hill Valley trail off Queenston Road since spring.

When I first became homeless, bad things happened to me," says Servais, bundled up in layers on an overcast January afternoon.

The four couples and occasional stragglers" at the encampment have been robbed, but on balance, life is more secure with their company, she says.

They're family for me."

Servais is one of the roughly 30 to 35 people the city knows to be living outside as local shelters reach capacity and grapple with coronavirus outbreaks.

I don't want to underestimate how serious the situation is right now across our system," Edward John, the city's housing director, told councillors Thursday.

Shelters remain open, despite the outbreaks, but capacity and staffing issues are limiting admissions, John said. We continue to explore adding capacity."

The crisis, with another deep freeze forecast for Friday, has the Just Recovery Hamilton Coalition calling for immediate action to protect people from the cold.

Anything we can do - opening rec centres, finding more hotel spaces - in the short term, would seem to be the best way to deal with what is, in fact, an emergency situation," said Tom Cooper, director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, which is a member of the coalition.

In an email Thursday afternoon, the Salvation Army said its 82-bed men's shelter on York Boulevard - one of several in outbreak - had resumed admissions.

But the shelter was near capacity" with fewer than five beds available, spokesperson Billy Canning wrote.

A lack of beds - a chronic problem in the women's system for years - or halted intake due to outbreaks aren't the only barriers to staying in shelters.

Some people are barred due to behaviour that can stem from mental illness or addiction. Others also avoid the congregate settings fearing theft, violence and pests.

Cooper said local partners are planning for an alternative to the shelter system akin to a community of tiny homes in Kitchener or trailers in London, Ont.

We're trying to bring as many people together for an initiative as we can and then hopefully present something to city council in the near future."

Meanwhile, city politicians have given initial approval to bring sectors and organizations together to find ways to tackle Hamilton's encampment crisis.

It's time to focus on solutions and to build unity in this city," Coun. Nrinder Nann told the emergency and community services committee Thursday.

With the freezing weather, the numbers are lower, but throughout the year the population of encampments across Hamilton can fluctuate from 80 to 140 people, Nann noted.

What's needed is a coupling of affordable housing and health services that addresses acute needs - such as addiction and mental health - to help people stay off the street, the Ward 3 councillor said.

This is about ending encampments. This is about ending homelessness."

But the enforcement of a bylaw that prohibits tents in city parks won't do that, she said.

Nann is one of three councillors, including Maureen Wilson and John-Paul Danko, who have criticized a majority decision in August to scrap a protocol with service providers that allowed clusters of tents to remain for 14-day stretches and made provisions for acuity.

In September, Mayor Fred Eisenberger defended the decision, which followed a closed session involving legal advice, saying it boiled down to genuine concern" for encampment residents, but was also about parks completely overrun by tents and people living there."

Doctors, outreach workers and other advocates have expressed concern the displacement of encampment residents amid a lack of acceptable housing options only increases their hardship and frustrates efforts to care for them.

But some city councillors have pointed to complaints from constituents about a range of concerns - including garbage, noise and open drug use - linked to tents pitched in neighbourhood parks.

Coun. Jason Farr - who has been vocal on that side of the debate while pointing to city efforts to get people off the street during the pandemic - expressed support for Nann's motion Thursday.

For years, the city has urged upper levels of government for additional funding, including provincial health dollars, to fill in the housing gaps, Farr said.

That's why provincial officials, including MPP Donna Skelly should be involved in the problem-solving forum, the downtown councillor said.

Why don't we have them sit at the table for the first time?"

An idea-generating" conversation between local sector partners should happen before pitches are presented to government officials, Nann responded.

Her motion, which passed on a 5-0 vote, needs final approval at council next week.

At the Red Hill trail encampment, Servais said she liked the idea of a community of tiny homes that could serve as an alternative to shelters.

But Servais said she and her partner would take one of the city-booked hotel rooms serving as overflow shelter space during the pandemic.

In December, that door closed when the city stopped taking additional couples due to rising concerns over domestic violence.

We have nowhere to go," Servais said about the possibility of having to move on. We're just going to camp somewhere else."

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com