Finding a permanent, long-term solution for the homeless crisis in Lac La Biche County has been an ongoing project by the Homeless Reduction Task Force since its inception in 2017 — and last week progress was made that could see some initial structures created by the end of the year.
The task force, which includes over a dozen community partners, stakeholders and county officials has been working on a permenant plan to compliment and expand the current partnership with the local Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) office and the temporary homeless camp in the Bonesville subdivision. That project now has half a dozen small cabins accommodating more than a dozen vulnerable people on a residential lot that has electrical power service, a cooking area, fire pit and porta-potties.
In its latest report, the task force — which the MNA is a member — is proposing to use work camp trailers to create a living space and resource-access site in a more central location. According to the most recent report, a location being examined is property near the Independent Grocery store south of the Almac Hotel. At the same time, MNA officials would like to see the location remain in the Bonesville area, increasing the footprint of the site to take over a 14-acre parcel of municipally-owned land to the northeast of the current temporary spot.
The current Bonesville site also sits on municipally-owned property, and was established late last summer with county officials, the provincial and regional Métis Nation of Alberta chipping in funding and resources. The initial agreement was for a one-year lease of the site, said Lac La Biche County’s associate Chief Administrative Officer of Recreation and Community Services, Darrell Lessmeister during an update on the task force’s progress last week.
“What we have up there at Bonesville right now is only a temporary solution. Nothing up there meets any kind of development permit or building code,” he said, explaining that the 12X16 sheds were a stop-gap measure to safely shelter the vulnerable population over the cold winter months, and until a permanent site is created by the task force. “It’s only temporary so that we can get to a model that we can support individuals through wrap-around services. But it’s not the answer to long-term sustainability in reducing homelessness and eliminating homelessness within the county.”
County councillor Kevin Paré said his personal conversations with local MNA officials point to their willingness to expand the Bonesville camp. He said that while the MNA are task force members, they would prefer to be allowed to expand the existing camp at the same location.
Currenlty, people using the Bonesville camp are offered county-provided shuttle-bus service into the Lac La Biche hamlet for access to services and other resources. Both the MNA and Lessmeister’s update of the task force progress say that a new, permanent location would have resources and services — like job skill training, social well-being and mental health services — available on-site to help the occupants.
With the temporary site and partnership reaching its intended expiration date this July, the race to approve a space before next winter is paramount, says Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov.
Original concept
With the location of the site still in question, the most recent option from the task force involved the purchase of six re-conditioned work-camp trailers that would provide space for private sleeping areas, group meeting areas, food preparation, laundry and washroom facilities. The budget for the purchase was outlined in the Traditional Housing Report released last July.
The funding estimate for the trailers was put at $375,000, utilizing $225,000 of the $500,000 currently in the county’s existing Transitional Wraparound Services Centre Reserve Fund and $150,000 of grant funding approved by the Rural Development Network (RDN). The urgency to create a permanent structure is because the RFN funding expires on March 31 of this year.
More details needed
Despite the funding deadline, Lac La Biche County councillors are cautioning against moving too quickly — especially with more than one option for location and service on the floor.
Ultimately, all parties need to sit down with all of council in order to create a site and inform the public about plans, said councillor Lorin Tkachuk.
“I think we need to do a full presentation—start to finish—who’s going to staff it, where the sites going to be. There has been a lot of discussion in closed sessions, and there is a lot of discussions that now have to go out to the public,” he said, adding that the municipality is ready to assist, but has no plans to operate the facility once its ready.
Originally the task force, which includes representation from the Lakeland Out of the Elements Shelter Society (LOESS), established that the society would run the day-to-day operations, since they have provincial and county funding as well as experience running a shelter, said Anita Polturak, the county’s manager of Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) and a task force partner.
“Our intent was never to have this as a facility operated by the county ... It is a work in progress ... Out of the Elements Shelter Society is a strong board and that they can take over the operations of this program. They’re already doing the work; it’s simply expanding their mandate,” she said.
While a possible site location in one option of the plan has already been suggested, and the MNA is supporting an expansion in Bonesville, Tkachuk said more discussions will have to be had with community members before any decision is made.
“The land needs to be a public conversation and we need to get input from the public. Not everybody is going to like it…at the end of the day we're going to make a hard decision and we’re going to have to put it somewhere. Just like we did with the temporary spot going to Bonesville, we didn’t make everybody happy; we made some people very upset.”
More Services
Municipal councillors and senior administrators will return to the table with task force members in the coming weeks to create a cohesive plan that includes participation from stakeholders and the task force—including the MNA’s plans—identifying a location for the land space, layout plans and operational costs, said Lessmeister.
“We want to have this up no later than November 1….we’ll work on that and will work with our partner and bring information back to council,” he said.
Task force members are also saying the site isn’t just an expanded homeless camp, it will be a resource centre for all vulnerable residents. Lessmeister says the added services will support and benefit any community member.
“We are trying to work with the whole community. This is not just about the homeless — it’s about the vulnerable. We need to have areas where they can get support and services,” he said.
The most recent statistics from the Lac La Biche homeless task force show that upwards of 100 people surveyed last summer felt they were “housing insecure”. Of those, 45 identified as being “homeless.”
Home Time
While occupants at the Bonesville site are protected against the remainder of the current winter season and will have housing for the months ahead, Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov said the decisions will have to be made quickly in order to protect people from another Lac La Biche winter.
“We want to see this applied and functioning before the next winter hits, so there’s warm beds available for them,” he said.
With files from Rob McKinley
