Many HRM encampments full but number of people sleeping rough is falling

HALIFAX, N.S. — In the latest update from Halifax Regional Municipality, five of the nine designated homeless encampments are full.

There are many encampments throughout HRM, but the municipality has designated several HRM-owned properties as encampments and services them with water delivery, portable toilets and garbage collection. As of Dec. 18, the counts at these designated encampments are:

• Barrington Street Green Space in Halifax has four tents on site and is not fully occupied
• Correctional Centre Ballfield, Lower Sackville, which will be the site of a tiny home village, has 25 tents and is full
• Geary Street Green Space in Dartmouth has two tents and one structure on the site and has room for more
• Grand Parade in Halifax is full with 28 tents
• Green Road Park in Dartmouth has eight tents and three structures on site and is fully occupied
• Lower Flinn Park in Halifax is full with four tents
• Martins Park in Dartmouth and Saunders Park in Halifax don’t have any tents
• Victoria Park/University Avenue in Halifax is full with 24 tents and one structure

“I think some folks want to be close to services they need and some of the encampments are closer to those services than others,” said Max Chauvin, HRM’s director of housing and homelessness, in an interview Wednesday. 

“I think there’s also a great sense of community in some of those encampments where people have formed good relationships with the other people who are residing there.”

Sleeping rough

The number of actively homeless people in HRM is 1,082 (as of Dec. 12) but the number of people sleeping rough outside is dropping. Chauvin said that in July, a point-in-time count showed there were 178 people sleeping rough in HRM but now there are about 100, based on what the street navigators are seeing.

Chauvin said a big reason is the new winter shelter in Dartmouth at the former St. Paul Church on Windmill Road, which was expanded to 100 beds.

“I think a lot of people went in there,” he said.

HRM is in conversation with the province “daily” about options for adding additional shelters as soon as possible, staff wrote in the update. The province opens temporary emergency shelters when temperatures dip below -10 or snowfalls reach 15 centimetres.

In his newsletter to residents, Coun. Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre) said that while the St. Paul’s shelter is welcome, it’s nowhere near enough to meet the need.

“It’s not big enough for everyone who is living outside and it’s not readily accessible to people who are in Halifax or Sackville.”

HRM needs at least three more in Halifax, Lower Sackville and Dartmouth, he wrote.

Fires at encampments

People are trying to stay warm in their tents and there have been several fires. Recently, there was a fire at the encampment at Grand Parade and an explosion at an encampment near the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge in Halifax. No one was injured in either incident.

In the update issued by HRM on Dec.22, staff wrote that fuel-based appliances should never be used in or near tents because of the fire and carbon monoxide risks, and that the municipality is looking at “other opportunities for heat and power.” Staff have been distributing informational handouts and putting up signs to warn people of the risk.

They’ve also directed “extra funds” for street navigators to provide people with “winter-grade sleeping bags.”

“Our first goal is to educate people about the risk,” Chauvin said. 

A solar-powered generator provided by Star Power Atlantic earlier this month has brought electricity to the residents of the Grand Parade encampment to run heaters, chargers and more.

Chauvin said the ballfield in Lower Sackville and the Barrington Street encampments have some power.

Outpouring of support

With the wave of support from residents and non-profit groups wanting to help homeless people, HRM has hired a staffer to support and co-ordinate their efforts.

Both 211, operated by the province, and the municipally run 311 call centres receive calls regularly from people who want to help, Chauvin said.

“Part of the challenge for a lot of folks when they call is what can I do, where do I go, how do I help? And for the volunteer groups, they’re doing work and want to connect with the municipality, connect with others.”

This community development officer will be the liaison for these groups and residents who want to help. There is a list of organizations that are helping HRM’s homeless population on the province’s 211 website.

There are now five staffers in HRM’s housing and homelessness office, a department that didn’t exist not long ago.

Warm meals instead of a levee

The money ($8,500) Mayor Mike Savage redirected from cancelling the New Year’s Day levee toward the North End Community Health Centre has meant hot meals during the holidays.

HRM encampment residents received one meal a day on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. They’ll be getting two more soon for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. 

The municipal New Year’s Eve concert and national broadcast have been moved from the Grand Parade and will for the first time be held at the Emera Oval at the Halifax Common.