Open Arms informing public about provincial shelter village for North Kentville, N.S.

The Open Arms Resource Centre wants to have dialogue with people concerned over a shelter village soon to be established in North Kentville.

Twenty Pallet units will be set up at 136 Exhibition St. in North Kentville, on the provincial building property, and will be managed by the Open Arms Resource Centre. Pallet is a North American leader in rapid-response shelter villages designed and built by people with lived experience.

The Nova Scotia Department of Community Services announced in January that four Pallet villages would be established across the province, in Lower Sackville, Sydney, Halifax and at the Exhibition Street site.

“Wherever the site landed in our region, we were happy to partner with them to provide another dignified shelter option for folks in the local community,” said Open Arms director of operations Michelle Parker.

Adults from the Annapolis Valley who are currently homeless or at risk of homelessness will reside at the village. These individuals often face barriers to housing requiring support.

Parker said all the shelter villages would be fenced in, for the safety, privacy, and dignity of those who live there.

About the shelter village

The Tiny Shelter Village will include 20, one-bedroom units, washroom and laundry facilities, and a community building. The units, Pallet’s S2 Sleeper 70 model, measure 70 square feet.

Parker said the community building would include a communal kitchen. She said this is where guests would be able to connect with resources and develop a long-term plan for stability in housing, individual growth, and support.

Site selection included that the subject land was provincially owned; relatively flat, close to existing sewer, water, and electrical services, grocery stores, public transportation, health care and other professional services.

Open Arms hosted two information drop-ins at the subject property on Jan. 31. Parker said it was an opportunity for them to share their excitement, have one-on-one conversations, for people to ask questions and to share concerns. Their goal is to be, and to have, good neighbours.

She said the project involves “a rapid deployment” of shelter units that will be up before the end of winter. Although they don’t have a time limit on how long someone can stay in the shelters, Pallet villages are intended to be a temporary housing solution.

“We really like to meet people where they’re at, learn what their individual needs are, and get those support pieces put in place so folks are living safety, securely and hopefully we’re setting them up for long-term success,” Parker said.

She said they like to look ahead, focusing on possibilities and not necessarily the experiences that someone had in the past. They work a lot with mental health and other professional services, a family doctor, community partners, not-for-profit organizations, or whatever clients need to move forward on their own path.

Parker said they are happy to listen to people’s concerns, but she believes that a lot of them relate to a lack of information. They’ve heard concerns about safety and security, garbage, and washroom facilities, all of which are going to be taken care of within the village itself.

There for clients, community

Parker said nothing is ever perfect, but they want to assure the public Open Arms will be there for the clients and the community.

Open Arms Resource Centre shelter manager Amanda Hatt Gould has been managing the OASIS shelter on Bridge Street in Kentville for the past year-and-a-half. Parker said Hatt Gould played an integral role in its expansion from nine beds to 20.

Parker said Hatt Gould is from the community and would be managing the Tiny Shelter Village for the first year. Open Arms will staff the village with at least two trained professionals, 24 hours a day.

Hatt Gould said she is really excited about the project. They were initially a bit nervous about the significant transition involved in expanding the Bridge Street shelter to 20 beds but “it has really flowed, and we learned along the way.”

She said she had a great team of staff members, and it was a great experience. Hatt Gould said she looks forward to developing another great staff team for the Tiny Shelter Village and working with them.

“The flow down there (at the Bridge Street shelter) is so great now that I know we can duplicate that up here (on Exhibition Street),” Hatt Gould said.

Her hope is that shelter residents can gain a sense of trust, build a sense of community, feel safe and dignified while they’re at the village and “to be able to feel like there is a future that is brighter than where they’ve been at.”

Shelter village concerns

Fiona Willows is organizing a community meeting about the Pallet village, to be held at the Kentville fire hall on Feb. 7 from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m.

Willows said she thinks it’s “incredibly important” for residents of North Kentville to have a meeting with everyone involved in organizing the project. This includes the provincial government, Department of Community Services, municipal councillors, and Open Arms.

She said that at no point were area residents involved in any consultation and they were not formally made aware of the project.

“It’s difficult for people to support a project that they know nothing about, especially when their phone calls and emails go unanswered,” Willows said.

She hopes that by organizing the meeting, residents will be able to voice any concerns they may have and get questions answered. Willows hopes that all questions and concerns will be taken seriously and “not brushed off in a passive aggressive manner like they have been so far.” She also hopes that accommodations will be made in project plans to address concerns.

Willows said that, after many residents voiced “valid, evidence-based concerns” on matters like safety and potential property damage, the project wasn’t considered appropriate for downtown Kentville. She wonders how the provincial government concluded that it was OK to move the shelter village to an area that could be considered even more residential.

“If it’s not OK in one residential area, then it shouldn’t be OK in another, no matter the average income of that neighbourhood,” Willows said.

She said she has seen and read a lot about tiny shelter villages, many of which are very successful. Willows said she would love to see that here, but she doesn’t have confidence in the organizers.

She said at the very least, moving it somewhere like the Chipman building in the Kentville Industrial Park “may alleviate some of the serious concerns that many residents and business owners of North Kentville have.”

Multi-faceted housing approach

The Portal Youth Outreach Association executive director Russ Sanche said he thinks the shelter village will help fill a void and offer more robust support for those who don’t have family or friends they can stay with.

“The Tiny Shelter Village would provide a community for those that do not have a community,” Sanche said.

He said the shelter village is one solution of many. It would address a specific demographic that is already here and struggling with episodic homelessness or remaining housed.

Sanche said that, up to this point, there has been misinformation circulating about the value of the temporary housing and how it’s being rolled out.

“I think people’s fear gets in the way,” Sanche said. “People can latch onto some dramatic or sensational stories that are more the exception than the rule of what’s going on.”

He said it would be “amazing” if people would simply ask questions and offer their assistance in establishing solutions that that would provide a safe, compassionate solution to someone’s plight around homelessness.

Need to know

• The Government of Nova Scotia purchased 200 units from Pallet; 100 designated for the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) and 100 for other communities, including Sydney and Kentville.
• The province will invest $7.5 million in shelters produced by Pallet, which includes bed frames, mattresses, desks, and support operations.
• There are 355 shelter beds in HRM, with 493 shelter beds across Nova Scotia.

Sanche said they’ve been working together as a community to solve this community problem. Several non-profit organizations are working in partnership with the Province of Nova Scotia, Department of Community Services, and Municipal Affairs and Housing.

He said the more they can inform government of the need and the more they can be in touch with “the real people and the real stories,” the better they can address housing shortfalls.

“Addressing homelessness is a complicated issue and building more housing is an involved and complicated process,” Sanche said. “This Tiny Shelter Village will establish a pilot or a model of what transitional housing can look like in a community.”

Recently, The Portal, Community Inclusion Society, Valley Community Learning Association, Canadian Mental Health Association, Project Hope, Open Arms, and the Kids Action Program formed the Valley Roots Housing Co-operative.

Sanche said they are working to establish and build housing that is dignified, attainable, and that fits with community needs. They hope to facilitate many different housing solutions that everyone can be proud of, and that help “change the tide of this challenge.”

He said great strides have been made through the Homeless No More Initiative. Collaborative tables have been established for young people, and now adults.