Daily Herald Contributor
There will be no new YWCA shelter at 420 — 18th Street West after the required bylaw failed to pass first reading at Monday’s council meeting.
YWCA CEO Donna Brooks, and three residents who lived near the proposed site were scheduled to speak at Mondays meeting. However, a motion to give first reading to a new bylaw allowing for a public hearing on the matter failed to receive a seconder.
Coun. Dawn Kilmer moved the first motion after reading, but with no councillor to second the motion the discussion ended before it started.
“Without a seconder, I’m going to declare the motion defeated,” Mayor Greg Dionne said during the meeting. “This will not move ahead. There will be no vote on the shelter. It dies on the order paper…. There will be no public hearing and there will be no shelter on 18th Street.”
Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp made a motion to have a public hearing on a new location, but Mayor Greg Dionne ruled it out of order twice.
Brooks said she was disappointed with decision.
“We did not have the opportunity to talk because the motion was not seconded, we would have been able to tell the house why we think it would be a good location,” said Brooks.
“We hope the city will reach out to us of what next to do, possibly next option,” Brooks added. “But that’s O. We just don’t understand what the next steps are but the city is going to reach out to us.”
Before the the meeting, the city manager had received well over 25 mails in opposition to the relocation of the shelter, most of which were from 19th and 20th street residents and property owners.
A property at 15th Street East near Access Place was one of the options raised at the last public forum before the council meeting last Monday which the the residents of 19th and 20th street were of the opinion is a better location.
The YWCA has checked out six different locations for a possible shelter without success. Presently, the YWCA occupies the a space at the Exhibition Centre, but that is not a permanent location.
Dionne has assured the YWCA the City will continue to work on securing a better location soon. However, he said the proposed location on 18th Street was a difficult project.
“It was obvious by the response from the crowd that was here today that we cant force the relocation on them and were not going to approve that location,” he said.
The YWCA purchased the property at 420 — 18th Street West in August 2024. In a press release, the organization said sustainable buildings are hard to come by, and they felt this building could be used as a shelter or shop.
“YWCA Prince Albert is an experienced shelter operator,” reads the press release. “They have operated Our House at 94 — 15th Street East for years as a shelter with few problems or complaints from surrounding businesses. (The) 1895 Central Avenue Shelter for Women, Children, and Youth has been providing shelter for decades, also with few issues.”
The YWCA said the location at the Exhibition grounds was always meant to be temporary. The shelter has been there since 2020, but the current lease is only month to month.
“It is not an ideal location for a shelter,” reads the press release. “Prince Albert needs a permanent shelter. As an agency, we have exhausted every possibility, tying up significant resources in the process.”
The shelter at the new location will provide meals, laundry services, showers, toilets, a place to sleep, and access to services like addictions counsellors, income support services, and assistance with housing intakes.
The YWCA wanted the 18th Street location because it was in a smaller industrial area that is within walking distance of services used by clients. The YWCA said business owners had been consulted, and were okay with the YWCA using the site for a shelter. They also promised security would patrol the area, as well as garbage pickup.
According to YWCA stats, 812 individuals have used the Stepping Stones Shelter since Nov. 1, 2023, 61 of which have moved onto housing, while 11 have sought treatment and nine have secured a job, 13 have registered for school or training, and 26 have sought counselling or psychiatric assistance.
The YWCA said clients have a number of reasons for using the shelter. Among them are evictions, addictions, mental health disorders, acquired brain injuries, fleeing domestic violence or street violence, working but unable to make ends meet, homes burned down, removed from home communities, pregnant, physical disabilities, or referrals from other agencies.
