Homeless pack up tent city at St. John’s
Church wanted homeless campers gone from property by Nov. 1
The last of the homeless people who camped all summer and fall on the property at St. John’s Anglican Church were packing up to leave on Friday.
There were five tents left, down from a peak of about 18 in early summer after the Warming Room shelter closed on July 1.
The campers had clergy permission to stay, over the objections of some of the residents in the apartment tower next door; some apartment tenants said they were concerned for their safety.
But Rev. Brad Smith said recently he’s been concerned about the campers’ safety since it’s getting colder at night and the campers were expected gone by Nov. 1. Smith was not available for comment on Friday.
As three homeless people packed up around noon, they didn’t have plans for overnight shelter.
One man who’d been camping on church property since July 1 said he’d stayed at a friend’s house on Thursday night. He was back on church
around noon on Friday, where he found his tent had mostly collapsed in the overnight wind storm.
Other campers in a tent next to his stayed overnight and their tent collapsed in 70 km/h gusts.
By dusk on Friday there were still four tents on the property at St. John’s, but it wasn’t clear whether they were still occupied.
Meanwhile the city has 30 emergency cots for the homeless available in the lower-level auditorium at the Peterborough Public Library.
Those cots have been open since mid-July; usually there are at least 16 cots available nightly, said Bill McNabb, the executive director of the Brock Mission shelter for homeless men.
Earlier this week, city council voted to move the cots to the dining hall at Murray Street Baptist Church this winter, with Brock Mission workers as staff.
But renovations need to take place in the church dining hall to allow it to be safely used as a dormitory.
McNabb didn’t know Friday whether construction had started yet or when the cots might be open at the church. In the meantime, the library cots remain available.
Rev. Brad Peters of Murray Street Baptist Church couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday and no more details were available late in the day from city officials.
Meanwhile there are a few cots available at the Brock Mission for men lately, McNabb said.
Construction has begun on the new men’s shelter being built on Murray Street, on the same property where the crumbling former Brock Mission was torn down in late 2017. McNabb expects the new shelter to be ready in early 2021.
In the meantime, homeless men are staying in the modern wing of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church at Water and Murray streets. St. Paul’s was purchased by local real estate investor Kevin MacDonald after the dwindling congregation moved to The Mount Community Centre.
St. Paul’s has been under demolition since January. MacDonald hasn’t publicly announced plans for redevelopment.
McNabb said the homeless men won’t be evicted from the church hall, which remains intact.