Group speaking up for homeless
A concerned citizens group called the Squeaky Wheel is calling on the city to do better for homeless and marginalized people.
Some people who are homeless and living outside during this time of year were removed last Friday from an encampment at the “hole in the fence” in the city’s downtown.
The hole in the fence, which has been a meetup area for homeless people to socialize, became an encampment in the latter half of the summer after police and city workers started removing other encampments in Jackson’s Park and other areas of the city.
The hole in the fence is located at the southeast corner of the Rehill Parking lot across from the city’s overflow emergency shelter slated to open in April at 210 Wolfe St.
“We met (Tuesday) around the issue of the dismantling of the hole in the fence encampment,” said Margaret Slavin, a homeless advocate and member of the Squeaky Wheel group.
“The emerging policies is to give those type of encampments supports rather than rush in and take them down and that particular one has been well known to people for many years.”
The spot is close to everything right downtown, she said.
“It is right in the middle of the city, it is not right beside people who are living there, and somebody said it is like the YMCA for unhoused people in the city,” Slavin said.
“It is a place you can go and usually find safety and camaraderie and a network of supports, people who are bringing help to the unhoused, know about that encampment.”
Services and options for the homeless have diminished
greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Joseph Hermer, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, who is studying police interactions between homeless and marginalized people during the pandemic.
“People have to understand during a pandemic the range of services available and the options for homeless people are now vastly restricted,” Hermer said.
“If you have people who are sheltering and sleeping outside, it is because that is their only option.”
Sheila Nabigon-Howlett, a homeless advocate and a member of the Squeaky Wheel group, said she is concerned about the lack of communication with advocates by the city.
“I really worry the city doesn’t communicate well what it is doing, and it doesn’t seem to listen to the advocates,” she said.
“Particularly Dan Hennessey, who is very knowledgeable and passionate about the issue, we don’t see that the city dialogues well with advocates.”
Nabigon-Howlett said a concern of the group was the lack of
the 24-7 shelter and drop-in centre in the city, especially now with winter coming.
People with nowhere else to turn must rely on the current shelter model that is one-sided with little understanding, Slavin said.
“It means anybody who is unhoused and needs to get in out of the cold all winter has to abide by the rules brought in by the administration from Brock Mission,” she said.
She said overall Brock Mission, which is contracted to operate the city’s overflow shelter currently located at Murray Street Baptist Church, has done a good job, but it could do better if there was a low-barrier shelter with fewer restrictions for users.
Users are scared they might not be allowed in at all if they come in intoxicated or suffering from a mental health issue, she said.
“When you looked at the fact there are real concerns about whether they are going to be allowed in at all if they come in high or inebriated or acting out from mental health situations,” she said.