The number of people sleeping outside in Thunder Bay has nearly tripled since last summer
CBC
The number of people known to be sleeping in tent encampments in Thunder Bay, Ont., has nearly tripled compared to last year, as those on the front lines continue to help support them and stay as safe as they can.
There are 140 people known to be sleeping outside in one of 12 encampments this summer, compared to a peak of 55 people last year.
This is believed to be the highest number of people experiencing this type of homelessness ever in the northwestern Ontario city, said Holly Gauvin, the executive director of Elevate NWO, the lead agency directing support efforts at encampments across Thunder Bay.
"This is almost three times as high and we have only 60 days of anticipated 'tolerable' weather before we are in big trouble," Gauvin said.
Jonathan Green, who goes by Bear, has been an outreach and engagement worker with Elevate NWO for three months. Before that, he did peer support work with People Advocating for Change Through Empowerment and with the Rapid Access Addictions Medicine Clinic.
Each morning, he hands out about 130 breakfast bags across the city's encampments. Thursday, people received a fruit cup, a muffin, a granola bar and a juice box, plus socks following Wednesday night's rainstorm.
Workers also distribute harm reduction supplies and garbage bags.
"Everybody's doing a really amazing job actually keeping the area clean," he said. "It's just a wonderful thing to see how hard they're working at taking care of this place."
While he joked that the people who live there have to start their day by "seeing his ugly mug," he said it's hard to describe how doing this work makes him feel.
"I can't even explain it," he said. "It puts a smile on my face."
While Elevate NWO's efforts have been applauded by those on city council, other communities have seen more scrutiny directed toward outreach workers. In June, the City of Barrie saw controversy surrounding proposed bylaws that would have made it illegal for charitable groups to distribute food, literature, clothes, tents and tarps to unhoused people on public property.
And in January, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled the Region of Waterloo could not evict people from one of its homeless encampments if there aren't enough emergency shelter beds available.
This summer, outreach workers in cities across Canada, including Winnipeg and Edmonton, have sounded the alarm over the growth of encampments.
In Thunder Bay, city council approved a motion this spring to "adopt a human rights-based approach to responding to unsheltered homelessness … prioritizing needs-based service provision to individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness," according to a report prepared by the city's manager of community strategies, Cynthia Olsen.
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