About 10 local activists spent the week
protesting the lack of permanent emergency housing for homeless youth in Guelph by erecting
a tent city in St. George’s Square. With nothing to protect them from the cold except for a few canvas
tents and a blue tarp, the group hoped to draw attention to the City’s as yet
unfulfilled promise to replace the old Change Now Youth Drop-In Centre with a
new, permanent shelter. Under a banner stating, “City Hall Lies - Homeless
Youth: Fight to Win!” the protestors hoped a practical and peaceful
demonstration might light a fire under City Hall to deliver, especially with
winter coming.
This story began in June 2007 when Change
Now was suddenly and unceremoniously closed. The Youth Drop-In and Emergency
Shelter was located in the basement of Norfolk United Church and on the morning
of Friday June 15, members of Change Now’s Board of Directors
showed up and ordered everyone out. No reasons were given as the youth were
herded out and the staff were given pink slips. An impromptu protest took place
in St. George’s Square all weekend, as no answer were given as to why, and the
doors to Change Now remained shut with nothing but the words: “Change Now is
permanently closed” on the door. The exact reasons were never given. At the
time, all board co-president Li Peckan could say was, “The programs at Change
Now were no longer able to provide for the needs of the young people.”
Change Now was jointly funded by The United
Way and Wellington County Social Services. In the wake of the closure, Morris Twist, then executive director of the United Way, said that it was his hope that a new
shelter would be open by September ’07. Of course, this didn’t happen. The
concern on the part of the city and all organizations involved was money.
Norfolk United didn’t charge rent for Change Now, but wherever a new youth
shelter lie, then chances were that rent would have to be an expense taken into
consideration. Temporary provisions were set up at Wyndham House and Our Place,
and the former Change Now funds were funnelled into these outlets.
Local anti-poverty
activists continued to push for a new shelter saying that these supposed
temporary measures were no where near enough. At council, the debate mostly
focused on funding and how much each stakeholder would/could invest in the
development of a new shelter for youth in Guelph. After months of wrangling, the city
decided to go it alone as the sole municipal funder, but still working with the
Province and the United Way, and get moving on finding a new youth shelter with an opening date
of October 2008. Obviously, since last week was the end of October, the
inaugural did not happen as scheduled.
However there is a
site, bought by the city, that’s ready to serve as the new shelter. The thing
of it is that the house at 18 Norfolk Street requires some major renovations in order
for it to become safe and liveable. These improvements aren’t expected to be
completed until the spring. The Norfolk Street house is currently expected to be opened in
May 2009 with an initial offering of eight beds, which may be increased
depending on zoning issues. A temporary shelter at 65 Delhi Street, set-up by Wyndham House through $230,000
from the city, will have 12 beds available to youth aged 16 to 21 seeking
emergency shelter
But back at tent
city, protestors are keen to point out that, according to some estimates,
between 150 to 200 homeless young people in Guelph. Many of those people, since the closure of
Change Now, have had almost no support, and more importantly, no where to go.
“When Change Now got shut down, they promised us a new shelter,” Jeff Way, 25, told the Guelph Mercury. “That
shelter ended up not being opened, and here it is, a year and half later. They
tell us they have another shelter, but it might take a year to do the
renovations.”
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