Nanaimo’s drop-in service hub on Victoria Road served more than 200 individuals in the first quarter of this year. A verbal report to the city’s public safety committee on June 11 highlighted work done at the hub and action being taken to address concerns around the building at 55 Victoria Road.
“Residents and businesses in the area have reported open drug use, disturbing and traumatic behaviors, individuals being victimized, criminal activity and social disorder such as debris, human waste and drug paraphernalia,” said Christy Wood, manager, social planning. “While anecdotal reports suggest that some of this activity has decreased in other parts of the downtown area and on some parts of Victoria road since the hub opened, it’s now shifted concentration to Nicol Street on the other side of 55 Victoria.”
She said the city is working with service providers in the building to mitigate these concerns. Efforts include increased security with cameras, regular meetings with building tenants and working to expand indoor space to reduce the number of people hanging around outside.
“Another key area of focus we have been working on is boundaries for service users so staff with both organizations are setting clear expectations for behavior,” she said. “Those engaging in disruptive or unsafe activity are issued a break in service and will not be able to access the hub’s service sometimes for up to 48 hours and if individuals don’t comply, the CSO or RCMP are called to remove them from the property.”
She added service providers are working with people who use the facility to help keep the area cleaner.
Barry Hornby, senior community safety officer, said officers are at the site two to three hours a day during a ten-hour shift to monitor and get people to clear the sidewalk.
“One of the challenges we see is with the change in the drugs that it’s extremely hard to get people to move. The benzodiazepines in drugs right now are making people pretty much unconscious, where we are having to activate 911 for overdose so people that can’t manage themselves so that takes up a lot of time to get people up and going,” Hornby said. “We have had some positive interaction with peers where they are attempting to get people up and into the hub once it’s open.”
The hub provides 20 overnight shelter beds and connects people experiencing homelessness to services, including a pharmacy and offers a place to do supportive housing applications.
“You can see that the challenges are complex and multi-faceted and unfortunately the strategies don’t address the root causes of mental health and substance use issues. The hub’s purpose is to alleviate the impacts of homelessness, provide basic needs to individuals and get them connected to health and housing services,” Wood said.
The committee discussed spreading services out so they are not congregated to one place in the city, looking at good neighbour agreements with the service providers in the building and finding ways to mitigate people gathering on the sidewalk on Nicol street.
