NNSL Photo/Graphic

business pages

Subscriber pages
buttonspacer News Desk
buttonspacer Columnists
buttonspacer Editorial
buttonspacer Readers comment
buttonspacer Tenders

Demo pages
Here's a sample of what only subscribers see

Subscribe now
Subscribe to both hardcopy or internet editions of NNSL publications
.
SSIMicro

Home page text size buttonsbigger textsmall textText size Email this articleE-mail this page

Day shelter workers feel unsafe

Aaron Beswick
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 29, 2010

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An employee at the Dene Ko Day Shelter says workers fear for both their safety and their jobs.

NNSL photo/graphic

Dene Ko Day Shelter workers have written letters requesting clear rules of engagement from the John Howard Society and expressing concern with the centre's management to the media, society board and politicians. Pictured are workers Andy Hulan, left, and Mazin Ahmed at the centre. - Aaron Beswick/NNSL photo

The John Howard Society board of directors, Yellowknife city council, area MLAs and media outlets have received copies of two letters signed by staff claiming a lack of clear rules of engagement with troubled clients and poor management are undermining their work.

"It's a free-for-all and we're afraid of losing control," said worker Andy Hulan. "The concept is a good concept and we like our jobs, but changes need to be made. We don't have set rules to enforce, there's all kinds of substance abuse and it's putting staff at risk."

The letters state staff do not have clear rules for when they can eject clients from the centre, when they are allowed to call the RCMP or an ambulance and how to resolve sanitary issues at the centre. Workers have also expressed frustration about having their decisions on clients and calls to emergency personnel over-ruled by the centre's executive director.

"When staff members that are on shift make a decision about a client, Lydia (Bardak, executive director) will undermine the staff member and go against their decision," reads the letter dated Oct. 17, 2010. "There have been several instances where we as staff have had to deal with situations where a client does not like what we tell them and their reply is, 'We will go to Lydia and she will allow it and you will be in trouble.'"

Both the John Howard Society board of directors chair Byrne Richards and Bardak, explained the letters as resulting from philosophical differences between the John Howard Society and employees.

"You can come here if you've had a drink, don't come here to have one," said Richards of the philosophy behind the centre. "If staff feel they are not trained adequately, they can talk to us about that but our philosophical idea is what it is."

The day shelter opened Nov. 16, 2009 as a pilot project of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority. Its approximate $250,000 annual budget comes from the territorial and city governments, local businesses, and fundraising. Run by the John Howard Society, the shelter offers a warm place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for homeless people with nowhere else to go, often with substance abuse issues. There's a television, coffee and tea, washrooms and games.

It's a busy spot, staff estimate an average of 50 people stop by the shelter daily.

"We opened it specifically for intoxicated people. There are lots of places for people who are not intoxicated," said Lydia Bardak, John Howard Society executive director, who is also a city councillor.

Bardak said prior to the centre's opening, homeless people with addictions sought public spaces in the winter to keep warm. She said Yellowknife RCMP had been committing "75,000 hours a year to babysitting intoxicated people in cells" and that the day shelter freed up those officers for other work. But when those intoxicated visitors are unruly at the shelter, Hulan said he and the staff want clear rules for kicking them out.

"When we ask people to leave, we get told that we should have sat them down and talked to them. But you can't talk to some people when they're that intoxicated," said Hulan. "We're not counsellors. We want rules on the wall that we can enforce."

In a written response to the day shelter's workers, the board of directors promised to draft a policy, procedures and operations manual for shelter workers by Christmas. The manual is promised to include the John Howard Society's expectations of its employees along with guidelines for dealing with specific situations.

The letter also included a warning to employees.

"Defamation of the character of members of the board or the reputation of the John Howard Society will not be tolerated," states the letter. "This will serve as warning that any future public airing of unresolved employment disputes may be grounds for disciplinary action, beginning by a written reprimand but ending if necessary in termination."

E-mailWe welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.