Hub's homeless on backburner
Northern News Services
Hay River (Feb 12/01) - Two homeless people in Hay River are in the midst of a battle between the people trying to house them and some angry residents who don't want a shelter in their neighbourhood.
The Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre, working with the NWT Housing Corporation and various other social agencies, opened a homeless shelter in Hay River's old town without the town's approval or consultation with the residents.
On Jan. 17, the Town of Hay River issued a stop work order to close the shelter, pending council's approval.
Vale Island resident Warren Gibb is upset the residents weren't told about the proposed shelter until it was operating.
He and a delegation presented a 92-name-petition at the Jan. 29 meeting of town council, with hopes of stopping the shelter from re-opening.
"We're going to remain calm here, but as a father, this scares me -- it's scaring everybody here," Gibb said.
He and his wife have two children and he said there are times when they have a dozen kids playing in their yard, which is right behind the proposed shelter.
Shari Caudron, program director for the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre said the shelter may re-open to house the two people, but the decision will rest with the town.
"We're still in limbo right now," she said. "The Vale Island committee wants to come to an agreement with some conditions."
She said they will have a 60-day agreement to operate the shelter while the town researches local housing issues.
"They will only allow us to have the two residents that we've had before, but other than that, it's all on the back burner," Caudron said.
The two homeless people that were staying in the shelter when the stop work order was issued are now staying in the Cedar Rest Motel.
"There was an anonymous donor who'd made arrangements with the motel for them to stay there for the month," she said. "The Cedar Rest was really good about negotiating a rate with us."
Director for the South Slave office of the Housing Corporation, Tom Makepeace said misinformation has led to the matter being blown the issue out of proportion.
"It's just got out of hand; the negative effects have just superceded the positive effects that it could have in the neighbourhood," Makepeace said. "I was appalled -- I just couldn't believe the kind of reaction that I got from people."
Caudron said they were notified last week that there are three more people in Hay River who have been evicted from public housing and will be homeless by month's end.
