Worries mount as 2 Moncton homeless shelters set to close in spring

A New Brunswick outreach worker says a plan is needed to cope with the pending closure in just over two monthsof half of Moncton's fourhomeless shelters.

"As a whole, we're all just worried and wondering what happens when we shut down two shelters come spring," Trevor Goodwin,senior director of outreach services with YMCA in Moncton, said Thursday evening.

A shelter the YMCA manages on Mark Avenue and another run by The Humanity Project on St. George Street together have about 150 people staying per night, Goodwin said.

Both were established with provincial funding under contracts that expire at the end of April.

"It's essentially a loss of140 beds, at least," Goodwin said.

His comments reflect what's become a nearlyannual issue: a lack of shelter space in cold weather answered with a temporary shelter that shuts down in the spring, leaving people back on the street.

After the temporary shelter on St. George Street was initially announced, Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard told reporters the city wouldn't need to once again scramble to establish a winter shelter this fall.

"We're going tobe having aplan that's going to be there'll be a system in place that can scale up or scale down and it will service the needsthat are here."

Goodwin said Thursday that there are ongoing efforts betweenvarious service providers,the New Brunswick governmentand the city to house as many people as possible.

"But we can't build housing in a couple months, and we can't just pull it out of thin air," Goodwin said.

Dozens still living outside

Together with two other shelters run by the House of Nazareth and Harvest House, Goodwin said about 400 people are staying in emergency shelters.

However, he said there are still 35 to 50 people living outside.

"For the most part they're there not because they want to be, but because they don't want to be in a shelter setting," Goodwin said.

He said that could be because they're uncomfortable being in a room with dozens of others because ofsubstance use, mental health crises or violence.

Goodwin's comments were part of apresentation to the Codiac Regional Policing Authority board. The civilian board oversees the Codiac Regional RCMP.

Codiac's commanding officer,Supt. Benoit Jolette, saidpolice noted a change after the two temporary shelters opened late last year.

"We've seen really a decrease in the amount of calls since we've had the extra services," Jolette told reporters.

Jolette said that means officers who might otherwise be tied up responding to calls about social issues can instead do other police work.

Goodwin said the city needs a24/7 drop-in space for those without a hometo get out of the weather, and which could offercounselling and otherservices.

The YMCA had a drop-in space for several years, but it closed in 2018. Goodwin said the organization had a tough time after that finding a location that would rent space for that use.