Like any good citizen, Dentville resident Brandon Beaumont wants his neighbourhood safe and welcoming.
I don't want anyone to be endangered, he said, while he stood at the back of the Garibaldi Room in the Howe Sound Pub and Inn last Wednesday (Feb. 26).
Beaumont was one of approximately 10 Dentville residents who attended Helping Hands Society's information meeting on its new transitional house and the proposed emergency shelter on Wilson Crescent.
Tables were scattered around the room. On each were topics pertaining to different areas the District of Squamish's involvement, Squamish RCMP, B.C. Housing Corp. Participants drifted between them, gathering information and asking questions.
We are for [the shelter] as long as it fits with the neighbourhood, Beaumont said, who lives six doors down from the facility.
Last December, the doors opened on the community's first transition house for the homeless. While the facility, named Home InStead, is approved to provide vetted clients with housing for up to 12 months, Helping Hands is hoping to add in an emergency shelter program that would allow overnight stays an initiative that requires district-zoning changes.
The society's current downtown shelter would be used for daytime programming, Helping Hands executive director Maureen Mackell told the gathering. The overnight stays would run from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. nightly.
That's good news, Beaumont said. He's concerned about possible drug and alcohol use at and around the shelter. The neighbourhood is located between a preschool and high school, Beaumont noted. Making sure the facility's schedule and school bells don't cross over helps, he said.
It sounds like they are on top of it, Beaumont noted, adding that shelter organizers are looking at running a shuttle from the downtown facility to the Wilson Crescent house.
If the zoning is approved, the facility would be able to house up to 15 people. There's an illegal pathway that cuts over the rail tracks to downtown, something Beaumont doesn't want to see exacerbated by the new residents.
The foot traffic is a huge one for us, he said. We came here with a positive attitude. We are hoping for the best here for everybody.
The new facility allows people to get off mats and into beds, Mackell said. It will provide men and women with separate sleeping areas and give people a chance to transition from homelessness into a more stable environment.
We know that Home InStead will work, she said. The research backs us up. We can't expect people to get well, recover and move forward unless they have a place to sleep.
Squamish RCMP and Helping Hands Society meet on a regular basis, Staff Sgt. Brian Cumming said. Helping Hands has assured police that at least two staff members will be at the facility each night, he said.
Police have reviewed the facility's schedule, he noted, adding that clients that use the facility aren't necessarily involved in criminal behaviour.
I would rather deal with the facts, he says regarding the stereotypes that come with homelessness.
