Province to open drop-in space in Moncton for people who are homeless

The New Brunswick government has agreed to fund a drop-in centre and shelter space in Moncton, according to information released at a special city council meeting Thursday afternoon. 

Councillors voted unanimously, without a word of debate in public, to lease the city-owned Lions Community Centre on St. George Street to the provincial government for a year. 

"It will be 24/7 drop in, it will be shelter space when and if required, and outreach services will also operate out of there," Jocelyn Cohoon, Moncton's acting general manager of community services, told reporters after the vote.

The building has been leased to the province since December, which contracted The Humanity Project to run a temporary shelter over the winter, an arrangement extended until the end of June. 

The plan outlined at council involves a summer shelter shuffle.

The motion approved by council says The Humanity Project's involvement will end June 30. At that point, anyone using the St. George Street shelter will be relocated to a building on Mark Avenue.

That building, the privately owned Moncton Lions Club, has also served as a temporary shelter over the winter run by YMCA's ReConnect street outreach service. 

The YMCA will continue operating the Mark Avenue site through July, but it will close July 30. 

Cohoon said that with Thursday's vote the St. George Street building will become a drop-in centre and shelter, but the province still needs to find an organization to run it before its doors reopen.

A plan for that is expected to be in place by Sept. 30. 

But that leaves a potential two-month gap in shelter services. Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the city, said whether there's a gap depends on how quickly the province finds an operator, prepares its plan and shares the information with the city. 

The motion approved by council says about 70 people per day used the St. George Street shelter, while up to 30 more used the Mark Avenue shelter. It wasn't clear how many beds will be available in July at the Mark Avenue location. 

Cohoon said it would be up to the province to provide information on that and about the number of beds that may be offered once the St. George Street location is open. 

Pushback from residents

No one from the province was present at city hall for the council meeting, and a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development said it likely wouldn't be able to respond to a request for comment Thursday. 

The Mark Avenue and St. George Street shelters opened over the winter after calls to increase the number of beds, while the city's main shelters, the House of Nazareth and Harvest House, were at capacity.

Both temporary locations have generated pushback from nearby residents and businesses over concerns with drug use and crime. 

Mayor Dawn Arnold told reporters after Thursday's vote that the city takes those concerns seriously. 

"Security and safety of our citizens is No. 1, and by that I mean all citizens. So we need to ensure that we are providing a service for the most vulnerable in our community so that they can move along and get into housing," Arnold said.