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I write with deep concern for the unsheltered folks in our community who were outside in the weather Friday night.
It hurts to think about these people day after day living 'rough' at -9 Celsius with wind chill and heavy snow on the way.
As a community, have we lost our way, our sense of humanity and concern for suffering of others?
It has been a few years since there were efforts to have a safe consumption site in Barrie. We have come close, but the Barrie community would not allow it. Heck, there were funds available in 2017 under a different provincial government.
But the City of Barrie stood fast. They were not interested. They had the misguided idea that safe consumption sites promote drug use. The council did not seem interested in the research that found otherwise.
It is my understanding from the folks who have volunteered much time and care and the various organizations who support our unsheltered folks that there are solutions. There are upstream solutions and downstream solutions. Shelters and breakfast programs are life saving and vital, but it is upstream where we need to go.
We need better and more mental health care. Downstream is shelters, food programs, etc., that were initially meant to be only temporary.
As a minimum this community needs:
- a 24-hour warming centre
- more shelter beds, particularly in winter
- rather than camp evictions, provide drinking water, toilets, picnic tables
The several thousands of dollars spent on hostile evictions could go a long way to addressing the desperate needs for this community.
And all the talk of "affordable housing" is disingenuous and misleading. We need "geared-to-income" housing and when even that does not meet the need then tiny home models like Halifax, Peterborough and other small cities that have found it within their hearts and sense of humanity to create spaces for folks.
As Joan Baez sings, "there but for fortune go you and I."
Simcoe County and the City of Barrie have a responsibility to have more concern and be more creative in finding solutions to this crisis. Shame on us.
How can we continue with this disregard for the suffering of others?
We can and must do better.
Myrna Cark
Barrie
