
Brian Howell
Submitted
Plans to build a homeless shelter in Prince Albert are being discussed at four community meetings organized by the City of Prince Albert. The Provincial Government has agreed to fund the construction and operation of a shelter if the City of Prince Albert provides a site that has the appropriate zoning.
Anyone who has worked in affordable housing or homelessness will tell you that finding an appropriate location that meets the needs of the homeless community and achieves public acceptance is a very difficult undertaking. We would be best served by a site that had minimal impact on residential areas.
The issue is further complicated by the temporary and tenuous nature of the current Shelter at the Prince Albert Exhibition which has some serious structural issues. This Shelter houses 45 people and is too small for our current needs. A recent Point in Time Count conducted in October 2024 found over 100 individuals living on the street.
City Council felt that a public consultation was required to determine the requirements for a shelter and to assist with site selection. The first was held on January 14th at the Art Hauser Center and the three remaining meetings will be held by the end of January.
In order to better inform this process we conducted interviews with ten individuals who were using the shelter to talk about how they came to need shelter services, what personal issues they were facing as they worked towards a housing solution and what services should be readily accessible from a shelter. This project was limited to shelter users and did not involve those who were living on the street. The YWCA operates the Shelter and staff there assisted with the interviews.
People come to the Shelter for a variety of reasons. For some it is a temporary respite accessed because of dramatic changes in their lives. One individual we spoke with became homeless because of job loss and simply needed a place to regroup and find work. Another had been released from jail to a housing situation that had fallen apart and was actively seeking employment and housing.
Others have a longer term involvement with the Shelter. An older man had lost his housing at a seniors home four years ago and has been at the Shelter sporadically ever since. Several clients have a regular pattern of shelter use, couch surfing or staying with family. It is worth noting that five of the group interviewed would likely not survive on the street in the winter.
Our observation is that this group has issues that generally fall into three categories. The first is individuals with mental health problems who are unable to live on their own. Their journey to homelessness often begins when families, group homes or landlords are unable to cope with their behaviours. Our observation is that the mental health system needs to be strengthened with more group homes and more mental health professionals, especially psychiatrists, so that these individuals can get the service they need. The shelter system does not have the capacity to properly support these individuals.
Addiction issues are a common thread among shelter clients and include alcohol, traditional opiates, fentanyl, cocaine and crystal meth. Individuals with addiction issues often have mental health problems as well. A variety of responses including treatment, supportive housing and managed alcohol programs are needed to meet the needs of this group. These options support the individual to lead a better life, and result in less stress on police, health and housing services.
Navigating the housing environment is difficult. Many people, especially those moving to Prince Albert from smaller remote communities are simply unaware of how to find a house. Landlords often require two months rent in advance and damage deposits are required for some utilities. They may not have proper ID or a bank account which complicates getting income support and they often don’t know where to apply. Another significant issue they face is the shortage of affordable housing. We need to build more housing and we need to provide more support to people transitioning from street to home.
One of the interesting findings of this project is that five of the ten interviewed had been in Prince Albert for more than twenty years and that three had been here for more than three months. A more extensive study of shelter use conducted in 2021 found that 90 of 121 clients accessing the Shelter identified Prince Albert as home, suggesting that “home grown homelessness” is a significant factor in our community.
Another interesting statistic is the age distribution of this group. Sixty percent were between the ages of 31 and 40. The 2021 Stepping Stones study found that approximately 50 percent of Shelter users were between 20 and 40 years of age. This cohort will be around for a long time. Providing services now that will help them escape homelessness will result in substantial financial savings and less strain on our police, health and housing services in the future.
We also discussed the best location for a new Shelter. Most clients felt that the current location was too out of the way and that caused difficulties for accessing services. Twenty-six of the 32 homeless serving agencies identified were located in the downtown area, suggesting that a location in proximity to downtown would be best for the Shelter.
Our community needs to make a decision. We have had an emergency cold weather shelter since 2012 when the YWCA, Social Services and The Government of Canada funded a 12-bed shelter at Our House. The previous winter (2011) five homeless individuals froze to death in Prince Albert. We need a permanent shelter to ensure no one else dies for lack of a warm place to stay.
Brian Howell is the former manager of River Bank Development Corporation. He has 30 years of experience working in housing and homelessness in Prince Albert.