Summerside emergency shelter part of 'our responsibility to care,' planning board hears

Summerside's municipal planning board gave residents an opportunity Monday night to comment on the province's plan to establish a 10-bed emergency overnight shelter.

The shelter would go on land the P.E.I. government owns at 25 Frank Mellish Dr., and the Department of Social Development and Housing has applied for a restricted use permit.

While supporting the shelter, resident Emily Walker does not like the plan to have it open only 12 hours a day, from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

"I can't imagine where we think people are going to go at 8 a.m.," Walker said.

But she added there is no doubt something needs to be done in the city.

"We are all closer to being houseless than any of us realize," said Walker.

"It is our responsibility to care for these community members that are already here and require our assistance."

Fellow resident Duncan McKillop echoed Walker's concern about daytime closures, and suggested council use the leverage it has in approving the permit to ensure day programs would be available to clients at the shelter.

"I don't think it's fair to these individuals that you turn them out at eight o'clock," said McKillop. "You need some place for them to be during the day."

Having services on site would be crucial in breaking the cycle of homelessness, he said, whether "it's addictions counseling, or mental health, or working with their economic situation."

One resident wrote worried about the proposed shelter going next door to the long-term care facility Summerset Manor.

"I am a senior and live alone," Carole Yeo wrote in a letter to the planning board, which was read aloud during the meeting. "I am opposed to this type of home in my neighbourhood."

Jason Doyle, director of housing services for the province, answering questions at the meeting, said the shelter would be similar to the one at Park Street in Charlottetown, but smaller.

It would be operated by a non-government organization, instead of the province, because they have more expertise in working with vulnerable people.