‘It’s a nightmare,’ says Riverdale resident about homeless camp

Frustrated Riverdale residents who are locking their back gates and dodging dirty needles, garbage and human excrement as they walk through their neighbourhood say they feel trapped between a growing issue with homeless camps and a lack of government will to house vulnerable people.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Carol McDonald, whose home backs onto Dawson Park, adding, “it would be nice if they were housed instead of living in our backyard.”

Ray Vallee walked up a road behind his home Friday and surveyed the damage left behind after another homeless camp was vacated.

Garbage and dirty needles littered the ground.

“There was one camp that had been up there the whole summer, and when they finally cleaned it up he had 15 propane bottles, in excess of a dozen batteries, somewhere around 15 bicycles in different states,” said Vallee.

Nearly every home on their block has suffered a break-in, theft or vandalism, said Vallee, sometimes more than once.

Concerned neighbours have been working with police, park rangers and social service agencies to address the issue, but Vallee says whenever a homeless camp is cleared out, another moves in to replace it.

“They clean up the site for them, and three days later they are back,” said Vallee.

Residents of these homeless camps feel trapped as well.

“It doesn’t matter what I do. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t,” said Frank Welsh, bursting into tears as he recalls having the police tear apart his camp, telling him he would have to leave or lose it all.

Nestled on a nearby ridge, Welsh said he has been living in his camp for more than a year, but has been working with social service agencies trying to find a permanent housing. “I want a life,” said Welsh.

Until then, Welsh’s collection of tarps and tents is his home.

Susan McGee, CEO of Homeward Trust Edmonton, said more than 270 people are living rough on the streets in Edmonton. The city’s total homeless, which includes those who use shelters, is about 1,700.

While Housing First initiatives have seen thousands housed since 2008 and contributed to a reported 43 per cent reduction in the number of homeless in Edmonton over that same period, McGee said there is not enough long-term supportive housing to meet the demand.

Ward 6 Coun. Scott McKeen said Monday the current shelter system providing crisis care isn’t working, and called on the federal government to commit the resources needed to end homelessness.