Kath Hoffman, affectionately known as Captain, is steering the ship at Safe Harbour Society. (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall and Sheldon Spackman

Searching For A New Home

Shelter relocation could cause more problems: Safe Harbour

Apr 5, 2021 | 10:51 AM

Safe Harbour Society says they’ll continue working hard to support Red Deer’s vulnerable.

The organization finds itself on the hunt for a new location for a temporary homeless shelter after city council voted last week to extend their permit to operate the shelter at the former Cannery Row building for another two months.

RELATED: Temporary homeless shelter to move from downtown

The organization says that in reality, it has only two weeks to figure something out because the City’s rezoning process, which likely will be needed for another site, can take several weeks.

Safe Harbour notes an outpouring of support for Safe Harbour since council made its decision.

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“For the past 19 years Safe Harbour Society has been helping to build a safe and healthy community,” said Kath Hoffman, Executive Director. “The overwhelming complex health needs of the people we serve, combined with the continual temporary facilities we’ve had to operate from, challenge us tremendously.”

Issues downtown are not lost on Safe Harbour officials, with several city council members stating last Monday it’s time they stand by the local business community they committed to making things better for.

“We understand completely the frustrations of the downtown business community and it is important for us to explain the impact that moving this shelter will have not only on the people we serve but on the general community,” says Buzz Vander Vliet, Board Chair at Safe Harbour Society.

Vander Vliet estimates around 50 additional people will go without a safe place to sleep each night if the shelter must be relocated.

He says there’ll be increased demand on RCMP and EMS services, no bathrooms, and less accessibility for people in distress or fleeing violent situations.

“Moving shelter services away from where this population is will not help us to address these complex social and medical issues or make an easy transition to stable housing and recovery,” adds Dr. Michael Mulholland, lead of Safe Harbur’s Medically Suported Detox program.

At the shelter, which opened in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Safe Harbour staff operate a drop-in program where they connect people to housing, health services, medically supported detox, referrals to addictions treatment, cultural connections and outreach. There is also access to bathrooms, showers, storage and laundry machines.

The drop-in service currently assists an average of 100-120 people each day, with 15-20 utilizing the day-sleep program. Overnight sleep is used regularly by 50-60 people, and the shelter has a 24-hour two-member security team.

Safe Harbour says if they can’t find a new home for the shelter, each of these things would either be lost entirely, or the number of people they can serve will be cut dramatically.

“The central Albertans who use our services and their families remind us daily how much more there is to do,” says Colleen Markus, Shelter Services Program Manager. “Our local medical professionals and partner agencies are as committed as we are to improving the health and housing outcomes for this highly stigmatized group of people.”