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NS News: Staff drafting a report on camps Achi-News

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Achi news desk-

Halifax Regional Municipality staff have drafted a report for the council addressing homelessness and the tent camps around the city.

City staff are urging immediate action, which will require financial assistance from the province.

The 59-page report outlines the need for new shelter and housing resources to meet the needs of the camp-dwelling community, including places where people can bring their partners and pets, speed up the process of purchasing and installing pallet shelters, and managing individual cases. a plan outlining a housing strategy.

The report also highlights the need for a winter shelter RV program, which would allow people to live in a campground at low cost.

During the winter months, the city introduced a pilot project allowing people to live in RVs at Shubie Park, but it ended once camping season began. The city would need $180,000 to continue the program.

The city staff report emphasizes providing more mental health care and additional services to the homeless population and underscores the need to approve an unbudgeted withdrawal of up to $4 million to create a rapid response.

Jeff Karabanow, professor of social work at Dalhousie University, said that the report is very comprehensive and can bring changes to the issue.

“There’s a lot of data there, it’s trauma-based, it’s compassionate, and it sees all the multiple perspectives in dealing with all levels of this housing crisis,” Karabanow said.

Karabanow hopes that some of the money will go towards resources that already exist.

“We have services that have emerged in the last year in response to the camp, I wonder if some of that funding can go to them to design it, [and] restructure their operations to continue helping the people living in these camps,” he said.

He said the report was timely, especially as the weather warmed and people left indoor shelters.

“Our homeless population has increased but not to the level of Montreal or Toronto, so we can still address this before it becomes even more difficult to manage,” he said.

With more tents springing up around the city, street navigators are finding it hard to keep up.

“For one individual to have to run to serve 40-50 people or more clients a day, it is physically impossible. So people slip through the cracks,” said Sue Uteck, executive director of the Spring Garden Area Business Association. “You’re dealing with a lot of people with acute, serious mental health needs here in the Spring Garden area. This is something my colleagues from other business improvement areas have been asking for for over a year.”

City staff will present the report at Tuesday’s council meeting.


For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.

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