City hosts open house on potential sober shelter at old curling run
By Ry Clarke on September 27, 2022.
Herald photo by RY CLARKE
Councillor John Middleton-Hope, centre discusses the City of Lethbridge's plan for a sober shelter with attendees of an open house on Saturday in the City Hall foyer. A second open house was staged Monday.Residents in Lethbridge were given the opportunity Saturday to voice their concerns regarding a potential sober shelter being developed at the former Civic Curling Centre.
The City of Lethbridge held an open house in the City Hall foyer from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inviting the public to join in on the conversation and putting their feedback toward what can be done to make this a successful project for the entire community.
Council members attended the gathering, hoping to hear from those they represent within the city and gather more information on how they should proceed.
“I am going to put my bias to the side in regards to the location. I want to hear what the community has to say in regards to this proposed location,” said Ryan Parker, Councillor for the City of Lethbridge.
“The feedback I’m getting from people is that this isn’t the appropriate location.”
Some councillors are in favour of a sober shelter but feel the location and the issues with recent encampments could cause problems for the shelter and the desired outcome towards recovery.
“It’s essential. It is one piece in a very long stretch of requirements that we need in order to better manage the opioid crisis,” said councillor John Middleton-Hope.
“There is a confluence of activities that occur over in this park, and if we put a shelter over in this area, there is the potential for conflict between those who are not sober and those who are trying to get sober.”
To understand the public’s concerns and issues with location, councillors are hoping to bring these issues raised during the open house to apply to the city’s decision.
“What we would recommend is that the city consult with the community first,” said Middleton-Hope.
“If the community says that is a good place for it, then obviously we got it wrong. However, if the community is supportive of moving it to another location, then I think the city needs to have a look at it from a different perspective.”
Middleton-Hope also notes he and his other council members are supportive of a sober shelter, but some feel the location needs to be rethought.
“I think we need to have something like this close to food banks, close to social services, have it centralized so it is more focus driven,” said Parker. “But at the same time, we have to keep an open mind and listen to what administration is presenting here and hear what the community has to say over the next few weeks.”
Looking for as much feedback as possible from the public, the open house was also held again on Monday from 4 to 8 p.m., with the city also reminding residents that could not make it to provide feedback online through a survey at getinvolvedlethbridge.ca.
“At the end of the day, we get paid to make the decision. But those decisions are predicted on constructive input from the public, and we have to have that,” said Middleton-Hope.
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As I have said numerous times, you have already picked the Burnside 19 acres,(Railway to 5th North on Stafford) you just don’t realize it yet! Why I am not sure. You can pretend you did not, just as SSIG pretended that they looked at other places for the Wet Shelter. Its been a sham and a misrepresentation of this cities needs from the getgo.
Just as SSIG pretended to consult with others and do intensive research (they did neither) now Council will pretend that the Burnside 19 Acres is not the only thing in play.
No alternatives were considered and those that “Love this city and believe in Do no Harm” pretended to consider all in the surrounding area. Do no Harm only applies to the money making Addicted. The intention was and still is to inflict maximum harm on businesses and the surrounding community.
We can pretend studies forced us there we can pretend we love our community and we can pretend we actually care for the surrounding businesses and community but pretending is over. What we will get is what has failed in every other city in this and other countries. What we will get is permanent embedding of the white religious Nonprofits who profit from the $100,000 pyramid and you will continue to pretend that the only place for wet shelters in within the city. No one will stand up for the business community and the surrounding residents because there is just too much money in it for the City and the Nonprofits they cater too! How do I know? The history of Addiction and the acceptance by Cities to allow Provinces to download and disrupt. No one questions AHS and asks why they find it so easy to Amber Alert a Senior with dementia when he or she wonders away from a confining seniors residents. But, addicts with the IQ of an unplugged fridge are free to wonder our downtown unimpeded. Both are diseases, but hunting down a Senior is more AHS speed, I guess! No one questions why Cities must deal with mental deficiencies instead of AHS and why AHS is allowed to let the problem fester within a community. Instead they sit back and wait for the City to shaft itself and then they come in and pretend they also care and they work with the “nonprofits” to ensure the collapse of the city internally.
We will slowly see a migration of nonprofits into the 19 acres as the surrounding real estate prices are suppressed and much like Seattle and Vancouver have more “nonprofits” per square inch than the addicted. Then to compensate, they will shuttle in more addicts to feed the embedded services.
95%+ of addicts die an addict. That means 95%+ will remain in the downtown forever. It will always be a problem and it will always get bigger. We can pretend if we wish, that it will get better in the downtown but that only caters to the white religious nonprofits who want that story line to progress, until its too late!
Businesses, downtown. and the community? Its just the cost of doing God’s work!