Dartmouth councilor calls for better management of temporary shelters

Sam Austin believes that the organization Halifax Mutual Aid created a dangerous situation by setting up an unauthorized shelter in Starr Park, Dartmouth.

Police say an occupant of the shelter assaulted a nearby resident who approached the shelter around 7 a.m. Monday.

The 65-year-old man had to be taken to hospital, but there are no fears for his life. Another 31-year-old man faces charges of assault causing bodily harm.

Halifax Mutual Aid is a volunteer group that builds shelters and books in public parks and other places. The organization expressed in a press release that its volunteers were saddened to learn of the park incident.

” The challenge with Mutual Aid’s approach is that the anonymous group does not consult with anyone and deposits these shelters in our park spaces without support services. »

Halifax Mutual Aid believes it knows the man who was injured. The group alleges the man had threatened volunteers and occupants of the shelter, and they believe he also used power tools to drill a hole in the shelter.

We present these details not because the violence was justified, but because Halifax City Council is once again pushing misleading stories that put some of the most vulnerable members of our community at greater risk of violence.can we read in the press release.

The organization intends to continue building shelters for those in need.

A growing number of emergency shelters like the one in Starr Park have been built and installed across the city in recent months as Nova Scotia faces an unprecedented housing crisis.

There is a need for the kinds of shelter Mutual Aid builds, but not the way they do itbelieves Sam Austin.

He wants the council to create guidelines on where emergency shelters can be set up and what services and supports can be provided to people staying there.

We need rules to frame where people can shelter in our public spaces because the needs are not going away says Sam Austin.

For example, he proposes to authorize temporary shelters on municipal lands that are not near houses, playgrounds or schools. He adds that Starr Park was not one of those places.

” I think anyone would agree that this is an imperfect solution to a rather complicated problem. »

Adam Pelley, who lives across from the park, hopes residents will be more compassionate so shelters can be set up in the neighborhood.

I think if people choose to live in these shelters, it’s a better situation for them than the one they were in beforehe said.

The municipality is working on a report to propose short and long term solutions to address homelessness in Halifax. The report should be ready for the next board meeting on May 3.

Meanwhile, the municipality is getting closer to opening 36 new modular units in the Centennial Pool parking lot, a project that has been repeatedly delayed.

With information from Emma Smith and Preston Mulligan of CBC