Unhoused have trouble protecting property
Staff estimate there are approximately 15-20 people sleeping rough in unauthorized locations
Alex Quinn grew up in Annapolis Valley and moved to Halifax in 2008. He lost his job in January and has been unhoused ever since.
Quinn has cut the fence at Lower Flinn Park on Quinpool Road and has set up his tent behind it in a restricted area. He knows that he is not permitted to do so, but he said that at night, no one checks behind the fences. It’s his way to protect his belongings.
“I don’t want to break the rules, but I have no choice,” Quinn said.
“When it gets dark, I close the fence at night, keeping people away,’’ said Quinn. By separating his tent from the rest, he’s ensuring no one bothers him and making vandalism to his tent unlikely.
Quinn plans to move out from Lower Flinn Park when a friend is free to help him move to another location for the summer.
‘WE ARE HUMANS, TOO’
That is far from the case for Jammie Taylor and her partner Brendon Parker, who also live at Lower Flinn Park. They have been unhoused since December.
“When our old tent was thrown out from Grand Parade, we lost over $800 of personal items,” said Taylor.
“We are humans, too, why would we want to live in our trash,” Parker said.
He added that he has seen people come at night and rip open their trash and spread it around, in an attempt, he believes, to create a mess in their living area to get them out of the park.
Individuals living in these tents are harassed by “mischief mongers,” Taylor said. They make holes in the walls of the tent, rob their personal belongings or use spray paint to write slurs on the tents.
“The graves with dead people are more protected than tents with us living in it,” Taylor said.
If someone threw garbage on cemetery headstones or spraypainted slurs on a grave, “watch as people get outraged ... but that happens to our tents, and no one cares,” Parker said.
There are laws like the Cemeteries and Monuments Protection Act in place to ensure that graves are not vandalized. Taylor and Parker have not made a police complaint about the vandalism they’ve faced, nor do they plan to make one.
“They will just try to move us away ... This spot has an accessible washroom that is not overcrowded, and we want to stay here,” Parker said.
INTERACTION WITH POLICE
Cherry Laxton, chief operating officer at Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, said some unhoused individuals have had past interactions with police that may not have gone well.
“This could be a reason why they do not complain to the police when their tents get vandalized,” she said.
As of Feb. 7, Halifax Regional Municipality designated Lower Flinn Park as an outdoor shelter with an occupancy of four tents.
“Living in a congregate setting may not be ideal for individuals with mental health or a variety of other impairments,” said Laxton.
This is a reason individuals opt to live in tents as opposed to other alternatives.
For Parker, having an accessible washroom and being in a location that does not have high stimulators such as sudden sounds from fire trucks, police cars or flickering streetlights is ideal.
“No one cares about us. They would rather erase us than help us,” said Taylor, choking back tears, as she holds up a sign they made.
The sign says, “Graves safer than us,” and is displayed outside their tent. It has been rained on, stolen and spraypainted over, but she feels the message has still not been heard.
FORCED OUT
Individuals living in these tents moved to Lower Flinn Park from various encampments. They are living here because they were forced out from the Grand Parade tent sites that were closed in favour of government-funded shelters on Feb. 26.
Notices were pinned to the tents on Feb. 7 at Grand Parade, Victoria Park, Saunders Park, the Correctional Centre Park in Lower Sackville, and the Geary Street green space. Individuals were forced to move out into designated sheltering locations.
Jake Fulton, spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality, said as of April 10 there were approximately 46 people sleeping rough in the four remaining designated outdoor locations.
“Staff estimate that there are approximately 15-20 people sleeping rough in other locations within the region,” he said.
‘WE ARE NOT A MENACE TO SOCIETY’
Corey Wood and his dog Cookie hope to receive handouts from people heading to work as they pass Quinpool Road. He has been unhoused for a year and a half. He lives with his dog at Lower Finn Park.
“We are unhoused, we are not a menace to society,” said Wood.
It has not always been this way for him. He lost his apartment because of a disagreement with his landlord and has been living in precarious setups since then.
“Because of Cookie, we stay away from the other tents, but I have seen people get out of cars, slash our trash bags and leave,” said Wood.
“It is disappointing that someone would choose to harass someone experiencing homelessness. If someone is experiencing violence, the municipality encourages them to call 911 for immediate assistance,” Fulton said.