Camps inhabited by the city’s homeless continue to be cleaned up.
In the past couple of weeks alone, about 18 camps were reported that will be removed. They’ll join the 83 homeless camps that were cleaned up in the summer, which resulted in connections being made with 153 people about housing programs.
Cleanup efforts were part of a city pilot program that ran from June 1 to Aug. 30 that also removed 16 tonnes of debris and 1,005 syringes.
City staff spent about 1,343 hours cleaning up the camps, with Turning Point and the Safe Harbour Society providing outreach support to individuals living at 35 of them.
The city is spending $300,000 this year cleaning up homeless camps, with another $200,000 dedicated for 2019.
Social planning manager Tricia Hercina said the number of homeless camps was a bit higher compared to last summer.
She said typically, fewer people sleep outdoors during the colder months, and there has been an increase in the number of people now seeking housing.
“That’s a good thing. We want people to access services and sustain housing,” Hercina said on Wednesday.
The daytime warming centre for Red Deer’s homeless, operated by Safe Harbour Society, opened Oct. 2 instead of Nov. 1 due to winter-like weather in September.
“That was really nice to have it open in October and we appreciate the support from the province and the city to help make that happen,” said Safe Harbour executive director Kath Hoffman.
Colleen Markus, Safe Harbour’s program manager, said as weather has improved, an average of 50 people a day have been using the warming centre.
“People are certainly coming in to get resources. They’re not staying as long as they typically would when the weather gets colder,” Markus said.
The warming centre is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Expanded hours are anticipated, Markus said.
Hercina said an evaluation is underway on the summer pilot program, but homeless camps pop up year round.
Camps are found by city park workers and are also reported by residents. Citizens can call the non-emergency RCMP/bylaw complaint line at 403-343-5575.
When a camp is reported, community peace officers visit the site. When their investigation is complete, they issue a 24-hour eviction notice. Officers then work with city staff to clean up the area within 14 days, whenever possible.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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