Political turf war over outreach centre comes at expense of vulnerable Islanders, says advocate

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 1:28 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

An advocator who works to get susceptible radical housed says the Community Outreach Centre's determination connected Park Street successful Charlottetown is making a difference, but caller governmental debates implicit whether it should enactment determination are creating uncertainty for those who trust connected its services.

Chris Clay, the co-ordinator of the Native Council of P.E.I.'s Reaching Home project, said he's seen first-hand however the centre provides captious enactment to Islanders who are often overlooked oregon stigmatized.

"I've seen a immense betterment successful the services astatine the outreach center. The session that they're moving present is fantastic," helium told CBC's Island Morning.

"It helps code a batch of needs to the colonisation that don't often get to spot doctors. The services that the lawsuit managers are doing down determination are phenomenal, and they're providing specified bully assistance to the radical who request it."

Political quality implicit location

Park Street is the outreach centre's 5th determination since it archetypal opened successful January 2020 astatine 211 Euston St. to serve Islanders successful request of access to fiscal assistance, counselling, employment, nutrient and housing.

Some residents successful the country person expressed concerns astir the location, citing fears for their safety. There were akin complaints erstwhile the centre was located connected Euston Street.

Clay said the current location has worked good due to the fact that it's wrong walking region of downtown Charlottetown and essential services.

But the aboriginal of the centre and the adjacent exigency structure precocious became the absorption of a heated statement betwixt the City of Charlottetown and the P.E.I. government.

Last week, metropolis assembly voted to cull the province's petition for a zoning alteration that would person allowed the operations to stay connected Park Street. 

Two days later, P.E.I. Housing Minister Steven Myers said the state would acceptable up a peculiar portion successful the country that would let the structure and outreach centre to enactment successful place, efficaciously overriding council's decision. 

Myers went arsenic acold arsenic utilizing words similar "lies" and "coward" erstwhile referring to the city's ballot against the zoning change.

Mayor Philip Brown aboriginal told CBC News helium wants to debar what helium called a "sandbox fight," but helium did not regularisation retired taking the state to tribunal implicit the issue.

Clay said the political discord is happening conscionable arsenic unit astatine the outreach centre are seeing affirmative results.

"Every clip we get a fewer steps ahead, we look to find barriers," helium said. "It affects the radical who entree the services and the work providers who are trying to springiness them out. If we don't person a cardinal determination to enactment from, past it's hard to find this population."

Clay acknowledged that governmental discussions are indispensable due to the fact that backing for the outreach centre and structure comes done government.

"I conscionable privation that it would beryllium done a lens of much caring astir the colonisation that they're arguing over."

Vulnerable population, unit bearing the brunt

Clay said the uncertainty surrounding the determination of these services is making beingness adjacent much hard for susceptible people.

"They're the ones that get the brunt of the anger," helium said. "It's not truthful overmuch the governmental broadside of the argument, but the neighbourhoods, the nationalist interactions — it often casts the radical who request the services successful the worst eye."

Then there's the interaction connected the staff.

"It's hard to acceptable down connections. Our occupation is based a batch connected relationships, and if you can't physique a narration of stability, past it's hard to support providing the services to the radical who request them the most."

'Anchor of stability'

Looking ahead, Clay believes moving the centre again would beryllium costly and unnecessary.

"If some sides could conscionable and travel with a amended program going guardant connected however to supply services instead of warring implicit locations, we tin amended service the people," helium said.

Some metropolis councillors person suggested decentralizing services alternatively of keeping everything successful 1 location.

Clay noted determination is already a level of decentralization, with the offices of organizations similar Peers Alliance, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Native Council of P.E.I. spread across Charlottetown.

"Everything other astir them is chaos. If you're surviving rough, there's a batch of reasons — you know, economical struggles, intelligence wellness struggles, addiction issues — there's a batch of reasons to beryllium homelessness," Clay said. 

"To person 1 small anchor of stableness successful that tempest is [massive]."

Last year, the P.E.I. authorities released a five-year plan aimed astatine expanding the province's lodging proviso and addressing the ongoing lodging crisis. The strategy takes a housing-first attack to radical dealing with homelessness, focusing connected transitional and supportive housing.

Clay said that program is inactive successful its aboriginal stages, but "the absorption is decidedly connected the close path." Discussions are ongoing astir the benignant of lodging needed to acceptable radical up for success.

He pointed to an existing program, the Salvation Army's New Roots initiative, arsenic an illustration of what works. The programme provides supportive transitional lodging with caseworker check-ins to guarantee clients are doing well.

"Those programs are starting to amusement the state and our funders that much supportive, much wrap-around supports volition pb to much palmy lawsuit interaction."