City council approves permit for Hope Mission to run emergency shelter until May 2027

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There will also be ongoing site maintenance, cleanliness, and waste management. Hope Mission plans to soon offer meal service as well.

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Cannery Row temporary shelter

City council approves permit for Hope Mission to run emergency shelter until May 2027

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Councillor Dianne Wyntjes said the complexity of homelessness continues to be an issue and hopes to find more solutions, including housing.

Meanwhile, Councillor Cassandra Curtis said if the permit wasn’t approved, they’d be spending more reactively, as many people in the homeless community would have nowhere to go.

“The shelter isn’t going to solve our homeless problem, given our point-in-time count,” she said.

When it came to the application, the city sent out 82 letters to properties in the railyards neighbourhood and received three responses in total, all of which were in opposition.

The concerns raised were public safety, crime, property damage, economic impact, community, quality of life, and more.

Ade Adeoye, director of emergency care and housing at Hope Mission, said during the regular council meeting, when it comes to concerns of cleaning up the area of garbage, needles, and other debris, they plan to implement a good neighbours initiative.

This means they’ll have a team that will go out and connect with nearby businesses, helping them clean up garbage in the area. This is an initiative Hope Mission has implemented in Edmonton.

“The community outreach team is all about connecting with our neighbours and ensuring we have good relationships with them,” Adeoye added.

Councillor Chad Krahn said it’s important for Red Deer to have this shelter.

He also added that it’s frustrating to have to continue to approve the permit every year.

“To the staff who put this together, I appreciate it. I’m frustrated we’re still temporary, and I’m really frustrated I can’t bring forward an amendment to do two years on this, especially if they don’t have a clear timeline,” he said. “We don’t have a development permit from Nexus yet, but I’m thankful for Hope Mission being in our community.”

Deputy Mayor Kraymer Barnstable said he’s hopeful that Project Nexus would be able to move forward within a year, but admitted council doesn’t want to make promises to the community.

He also said he’s thankful for Hope Mission for taking on the file.

“We’re in a realm right now where we have homelessness, a growing problem within our community. We talked about the housing we need to work through, and it’s not getting easier to solve. It’s becoming more and more complex by the day. This is a situation where we need to have something available for them, and I thank Hope Mission for taking on this role.”