'Start doing something': More than 200 Terrace residents attend forum on homelessness

The Sportsplex in Terrace was packed Tuesday night with more than 200 locals who came to a public forum to express their concerns about the growing numbers of homeless in the city.

For the past six months, a tent city has been growing in size near the Walmart across Highway 16, and many business owners and locals want the city to address it.

"Send letters. Send emails and faxes. Get on Facebook, Instagram. I don't care what it is. Get on something and start doing something about it," resident Juliana White said at the meeting. She says her main concern is safety in the northern Interior city.

"Safety of the business owners. Safety of homeowners. Safety of the people that are out on the streets. Everyone in this entire conversation needs to be taken care of, so that they're all safe," she said.

"I would like to be able to go for a walk without being afraid. I used to walk home from my friends' houses after an evening. I won't do that anymore and neither will anyone else."

Attendees at the event, which Mayor Carol Leclerc described as having the largest turnout she has ever seen at a public forum, also voiced the need for the city to address underlying issues leading to homelessness. 

Stephanie Louie, an outreach worker with the Kermode Friendship Society, wants the city to set up treatment centres and have more affordable housing available.

She said her team has been struggling to find before-treatment care and aftercare programs for people with addiction issues.

"I would like to see the city approach the provincial government to discuss the mental health policies and what the wait-lists are like. It should be on a client needs basis, not on a first come, first serve basis," said Louie. 

Suggested solutions 

Different solutions were suggested by community members, including studying how other cities have dealt with similar problems, as well as looking at building modular housing units for people living in tents.

However, residents like White and Timothy Boehn believe the tent city is really a symptom of a broader systemic problem.

"If we simply sweep our issues under the rug ... run the people who we are talking about out of town, then we wouldn't actually be treating the root causes, which would just manifest again in another period of time without them being dealt with," Boehn told Daybreak North's Matt Allen. 

Mayor Leclerc said the city is trying to get more support from higher levels of government. 

"We have been working closely with the organizations in town. We've lobbied to the provincial government and we will continue to lobby to the provincial government," she said.

"There's a lot of stuff that happens at a higher level of government than happens at a municipal level of government. So, understanding what our community needs, getting the stories and taking them to the higher levels of government is what we're gonna do."