Temporary housing plan paused after neighbours raise concerns

The provincial government's plan to open temporary housing for homeless people in St. Stephen seems uncertain following a meeting with affected neighbours. Social Development Minister Jill Green, responsible for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, announced the plan on January 16 to set up trailers on provincially owned land at 24 Happy Valley Road to house people without homes, aiming to go into operation late in February.
However, the plan seems less certain after a meeting behind closed doors two nights later at the Garcelon Civic Centre between Happy Valley Road residents, provincial and municipal officials and Neighbourhood Works representatives.
"It has been put on pause for now till we can help them find a suitable location with a possibility of going into something long term and not a temporary waste of money there," Andrea McCaffery, speaking for a concerned citizens' group, said in an interview afterwards recorded on CHCO Television. Happy Valley is a dead end mostly residential street inside Municipal District of St. Stephen boundaries but just outside the old town line, off the upper end of King Street, Route 170, past the traffic circle.
Neither Mayor Allan MacEachern nor Seniors Minister and Saint Croix MLA Kathy Bockus, who both attended, would say that the plan was on hold, although Bockus did say, "I would say the community has the final say -- simple." Neighbourhood Works Executive Director Jim Stuart said in a televised interview that the parties got feedback that they would consider as they moved forward.
Department of Social Development communications officer Rebecca Howland responded to an emailed enquiry several days later from The Quoddy Tides, "I am still working on this. I will be in touch as soon as I have something for you."
The release announcing the plan to put temporary housing on Happy Valley Road quotes MacEachern expressing pleasure that the province recognizes the need to help people without homes in St. Stephen this winter.
However, the mayor said in a more recent interview that the province posted the release two days before the planned meeting behind closed doors to explain the plan to residents and business owners, which he considers to have been a mistake. "I don't know what they were thinking," MacEachern says, adding, "They put it out two days before that meeting. [They] should have had the meeting first and then decide whether yea or nay."
The mayor says he cannot comment further on where the plan stands until the parties meet again to clarify issues. He does confirm that 24 Happy Valley Road was the site that a working group in St. Stephen proposed for a warming centre. The municipal district council has agreed to provide services to the property, but the province at first rejected the site, which was a large part of the reason for the delay in opening a place for people without homes to get out of the cold this winter.
Depending on whom one cites, as few as 60 or possibly more than 100 people in St. Stephen do not have homes this winter, but the provincial government and the municipal district council seem to have a hard time getting on the same page on what to do about it.
St. Stephen Municipal District Council declared a state of emergency on December 4, two days after Adam Dickerson died in hospital after he was found in medical distress outdoors in Milltown. Public Safety Minister Kris Austin cancelled the declaration two days later, saying the situation in St. Stephen did not meet the definition of "emergency" under provincial law. On December 8, the day of Dickerson's funeral, Neighbourhood Works announced that it would open a drop in centre offering respite from the cold for homeless people at its community hub at 59 Union Street, the former Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church.
The drop in centre stays open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but does not offer sleeping accommodations for regulatory reasons. The announcement posted on December 8 calls the drop in centre a "temporary initiative" until a proper warming centre could open. Neighbourhood Works operated the warming centre last winter, with provincial and municipal funding, at the corner or King and Prince William streets.
MacEachern cannot say where the proposal to provide temporary housing on Happy Valley Road stands, but he recognizes the need to address homelessness in St. Stephen.
"All I can say publicly at this point is something needs to be done still," he says, adding that the legal jurisdiction might lie with the province but the municipality has to support the effort, too. "We're part of it, but it's a provincial mandate, and whether there's help from the feds, I don't know. But regardless, we need to support the province on whatever avenue they can find to help us in our community," he says.
The Rotary Club of St. Stephen/Milltown planned to host a Community Call to Action meeting on Thursday, January 25, at the Garcelon Civic Centre, where homelessness was likely to be raised as an issue.