The men’ s shelter has women in it. For the first time in the 12-year existence of the shelter’ s operations, the Out of the Elements Men’ s Shelter is hosting as many as four women on a nightly basis.
The women, says shelter director Bernice Mechor, are coming to the shelter for their own safety.
“Some were prostituting themselves for a room to stay or basic living needs before they came to us,” Mechor told a group of more than a dozen people attending Thursday night’ s regular Chamber of Commerce meeting. The women are an addition to a growing client list.
Mechor came to the Chamber meeting to discuss the issue of homelessness and vagrancy after recent local news articles have been reported from several area business owners concerned that street people are affecting their business and scaring customers. In a recent occurrence, an intoxicated person who had been harassing clients at a downtown grocery story exposed himself to the store owner as he was being told to leave the area.
Mechor, who has volunteered with the shelter since its inception, defended the area’ s growing homeless population, but told the group that she also understands the concerns that some homeless people can bring.
“I fully sympathize with the business owners,” she said, but added that many of the trouble-makers are not from the community. “These are not the Lac La Biche guys.”
She says many of the area’ s new homeless are from remote northern communities.
While the reaction from the business community has recently been negative, Mechor struggled with some emotion as she praised the men and women who have used the shelter over the last two years. Last year the shelter recorded 1,044 client nights. There have been 220 night stays so far in 2017.
“The new shelter has been open since 2014 and we have only had to ban two people,” she said, adding that in the same time frame two clients have reunited with the families, two have successfully completed rehab programs and two have found full-time jobs.
The shelter, which began as a cold-weather-only facility for its first decade of existence, has been adjusting its schedule over the last few years, depending on funding and volunteer involvement. The facility offers sleeping mats, sheets, aplace for a shower and hot meals. Since February, the shelter - a small building located on 104 Street near the Light of Christ Catholic School - has been open 24 hours a day.
Mechor said the clients respect the facility.
“We are in a 20-by-40 trailer, but it really does do what it’ s supposed to,” she said, explaining that on the nights where women stay in the building, a solid partition is put up and constant supervision is provided. “The staff stay awake 24 hours a day and we have not had one incident at all. They are all really polite. They call it their home - and for the most part it is.”
Lac La Biche and District Chamber of Commerce President Rik Nikoniuk said the issue of street people harassing people in the downtown, causing mischief or being drunk and disorderly puts the community in a poor light.
“We’ d be naive in this community if we didn’ t thing we had a problem with this,” said Nikoniuk.
Mechor hopes Chamber businesses can rally around the shelter’ s clients to help them get back on their feet. She said several are already trying to better themselves by taking life-skills training and workforce entry programs. Ignoring the problem or continuing to make it more about policing than a social issue is not the right approach Mechor said. She wants the community to see the homeless the way she does.
Nikoniuk has also agreed to meet with Mechor and visit the shelter and its clients in the coming weeks.
The conversation on the homeless will continue for community members next week as the first meeting of the Lac La Biche Homeless Reduction Task Force will take place on April 6. Chamber members have been asked to join the task force. The meeting is open to the public and starts at 7 pm at the Bold Center’ s second-floor Viewpoint Room.
Mechor hopes that by continuing the conversation, the community can grow together rather than push people further away.
“How do we bring everyone together? They are part of our community,” she said.
