Safety concerns raised in Steinbach over homeless camps

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Leaders in Steinbach said safety issues have become more prevalent as homeless encampments popping up in the community become more visible.

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During a Tuesday city council meeting in Steinbach, city councillor Jake Hiebert said residents have increasing concerns about homelessness and homeless encampments in the southeastern Manitoba city of about 19,000 residents.

“A recent prominent concern of the citizens of this city is the perceived influx of homeless people and the increased visibility of their possessions,” Hiebert said. “I want to assure residents that council is aware of these issues and is working to address them.”

According to Hiebert, in the last few weeks there have been two spots in the city, including one along the city’s Main Street, where homeless people have been frequenting and in many cases living.

And while Hiebert is asking for council to come up with a strategy to deal with the homelessness issue in Steinbach, he said he has also spent the last two weeks meeting face-to-face with vulnerable people in encampments.

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“I have made it a point to stop by every day for the past two weeks and dialogue with the individuals, all of whom have a name,” Hiebert said.

He said many of the homeless he has met in Steinbach are addicted to drugs and often have experienced traumas.

“Methamphetamine appears to be the drug of choice for these homeless, and many of the women are struggling with previous rapes and abuse,” he said.

Hiebert said he thinks his community needs to rethink how they deal with issues of homelessness and start to focus on more “long-term solutions” to get people off the streets and keep them off the streets, rather than just keeping them temporarily housed, fed and comfortable.

“I could be convinced that places that provide people with food, and an overnight shelter on cold nights have the best of intentions, they care for the homeless people as individuals, and these individuals are the first to admit that caring people that drop off food are providing a temporary fix,” he said.

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“But continuing to live in communal housing is not what they are seeking, they identified their needs as places to live, a job, mental health and addictions intervention and medical care.”

Hiebert says he is concerned because he does not believe that Steinbach currently has the kind of services and programs available to help get people out of homelessness and addictions, and he cited examples of transitional housing programs available in Winnipeg that he would like to see more of in Steinbach.

“Many of these people require long-term drug and mental health intervention, followed by housing and employment support,” he said.

“In doing my research I am convinced that the homeless need to be introduced to places and facilities where there is this help available, but Steinbach does not have such adequate resources.”

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During Tuesday’s council meeting councillor Michael Zwaagstra said he has been hearing safety concerns from those who live or work near an encampment set up along Main Street near a high-traffic area.

Zwaagstra also asked city administration to look at other communities dealing with homelessness to see what they have been doing to tackle the issue.

He said he is also hearing that residents have been going to the encampments recently to drop off food and supplies, but said those who wish to donate should do so without going directly to those encampments.

“If you want to help, we’ve heard this consistently from many different organizations, donate to the organizations that are actively working with at-risk people, who actually know how to target it better,” Zwaagstra said.

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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