New Fredericton homeless hub clarifies its job, denies turning anyone away

One of the growing pains that comes with opening a new hub for the homeless in Fredericton is that people don't know exactly what the hub does, said Lindsay Norcott, the homelessness services manager at the John Howard Society.

She said the Ironwood Resource Centre, which opened on Dec. 4, is intended to be a "housing-focused resource centre." 

Norcott said she understands the confusion when people are used to talking about "warming" or "drop-in" centres — especially when Ironwood allows people to drop in and warm up. 

But she said it was never intended to be a warming or drop-in centre. 

Norcott was asked for clarification after Green Party Leader David Coon raised concerns about the centre turning people away. 

Last week, Coon said a man who had gone to the centre to warm up told him he was asked to leave after falling asleep in a chair. 

Norcott and April Sullivan, the manager of the Ironwood Resource Centre, said that wouldn't happen. 

Sullivan said people are free to use the space "as they need." 

Norcott said, "The only concern may be if the nodding off is making them fall over, then they might be woken up to readjust so that they're not falling off a chair, which would then make it unsafe for them."

Both insist that no one's ever been asked to leave because they've fallen asleep. 

Norcott said "there's always going to be people that — no matter what service you're providing — they might not agree with how it's being done."

She did confirm the part of the story where Coon was told that pets are not allowed.

She said it's for safety reasons. Other people might not react well to pets, and the pets may not react well in that environment. She believes only one person has ever been turned away because of a pet. 

"We don't have the ability to make the space safe with a pet in the area," said Norcott.