
Uko Akpanuko
Daily Herald
Prince Albert residents filled up the Ches Leach Lounge to discuss a new permanent homeless shelter on Wednesday, but Jonas Beebe was one of the few who can say he’s experienced it.
Beebe was homeless for roughly one month as a 21-year-old. He’s no longer homeless, and now works as the YWCA Housing Support Worker. On Wednesday, he was at the shelter meeting to show residents what a success story looks like.
“There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered regarding a lot of social issues that come along with opening a shelter and having a shelter,” Beebe said in an interview following the meeting. “I think that meetings like this, getting feedback from community members and also having experts answers their questions, is a great start to building a functioning working solution to this problem.”
Beebe is originally from Big River, but moved to Prince Albert in 2007 with his family. He became homeless at age 21, and lived for roughly two weeks on the streets before seeking out services at a homeless shelter. After another two weeks, Beebe said he was able to “get stable” and figure out where he needed to go from there.
Beebe said it’s important for people to know that it is possible to change, and for homeless residents, a stable shelter is a vital part of the process.
“People have the capacity to change and change is part of life,” he said. “Whether you’re changing for the good or changing for the bad, you are going to experience change and having a place like the shelter to go to where there are resources to make the positive change, that’s going to be a big impact.”
Beebe said he was always scared while he was homeless, describing it as a time of “looking over your shoulder for people trying to harm you.” He said part of that stemmed from his addiction problems, and from his criminal background. However, he also said many homeless residents are scared of people trying to help too.
“You’re still stuck in that mentality that police and anybody in uniform is out to get you too,” he said. “When you see people on the street, they’re not just fearful of just general people. They’re scared of the help that is out there, so bridging that gap is something that has to get done. Like I said, the biggest fear is change and without positive supports and collaborative supports between systems, there’s no change that’s going to happen.
“All the homeless people have a story,” he added. “They have lives they lived and they want to get it back on track and they are unable to do it by themselves is the biggest thing.”
These days, Beebe works for the YWCA. He decided to work for the organization as a way to give back to the community and atone for past criminal activities. However, he also said he’s motivated to help other people who were in a similar spot he was.
“It gives me an opportunity to give back to the community, and help family and friends who are still struggling.
Prior to the consolation, Beebe helped organized 10 interviews with current shelter clients to get their thoughts on which location would best help them access services, and eventually find housing.
Former River Bank Development Corporation executive director Brian Howell conducted the interviews between Jan. 6-8, 2025. Those interviews showed several issues which prevented homeless residents from finding a home: lack of mental health support, drug and alcohol addiction, lack of awareness about support services, and a lack of items like proper ID or a bank account, which makes it difficult access those services. The surveys also showed some clients are successful in finding housing, but end up being evicted for a variety of reasons that include failure to pay rent or utilities, damage to property, having guests stay too long, or disturbances leading to police intervention.
“This sometimes reflects lifestyle issues, and is not likely to change unless the issues are dealt with,” reads a short summary from the Shelter Client Interview report handed out at the meeting. “Tenants often aren’t aware of their rights and are unfairly evicted. Eviction-prevention is an important part of reducing homelessness as it is easier to keep tenants in existing units than find them a new one.”
The report also cited the lack of quality low-income housing units in Prince Albert as a problem. According to the survey, some shelter clients have homes or apartments, but would rather be homeless because mold, bugs, leaks, and furnace problems “can make life unbearable.”
The City of Prince Albert held the first of the four workshops that is aimed at sharing information and gathering feedback from across the community on Jan. 15 at the Ches Leach Lounge.
The remaining dates and venues for the workshops still remain Monday, Jan. 20 at the Midtown Community Club, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 21 at the Alfred Jenkins Field House, 5:30p.m. – 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Jan 30 at PAGC Urban Services, 5:30p.m. – 7:30p.m.
–with files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald