'We have never seen this number before': Truro grapples with growing homeless encampment
Outreach co-ordinator says approximately 15 people live in an encampment beside Highway 102
Near the exit to Truro, N.S., a cluster of colorful tents and a lone RV can be seen alongside Highway 102, some tucked under the overpass for shelter from the elements.
Since the summer, a group of around 15 people has come to live there. They're mostly men, but some women too, their ages ranging from about 17 to 63. The biggest thing they have in common is they can't find or keep housing.
"In terms of housing, folks just aren't able to afford a place," said Davy Rose, the outreach co-ordinator with Truro Housing Outreach Society, a non-profit that runs the only homeless shelter in town.
Rose tracks the data and says 42 people are living outside in and around the town of less than 13,000 people, and that number is growing.
The area's two municipalities are grappling with more people on the streets and more people at risk of losing their housing. The local shelter that can accommodate up to 25 people is full every night.
By all accounts, this is the first time a significant encampment has formed in the rural area.
"There have always been homeless people, but we have never seen this number before to my knowledge," said Christine Blair, mayor of the Municipality of the County of Colchester, which covers the areas surrounding the Town of Truro.
"The price of food is up, the price of rent is up, the cost of living is huge. It's impacting everyone."
Blair said the encampment is in her municipality but it is on provincially-owned land. It's also on a floodplain, which causes her great concern. But she said it has not come up in council to designate a more suitable location for tenting and provide municipal supports, like what's being done in Halifax.
She said the municipality won't be providing any services at the encampment and looks to the Truro Housing Outreach Society to do this work.
"We don't interfere with the work of organizations that are specifically designated to do that type of thing. What we would do is assist them financially if they applied for a grant through the municipality," said Blair, adding the municipality provided $38,000 to homeless-serving organizations last year.
Blair said she doesn't want to see people living outside at all and hopes they'll find permanent housing.
But Rose said it's not that easy.
'It's going to take a long time' to find housing
Rose said everyone in the encampment is on the Truro Housing Outreach Society's caseload. The outreach team does what they can, like helping people get identification and necessary documentation, and stopping by regularly to provide survival gear, tarps, tents and food.
The provincial Department of Community Services says it is aware of the encampment and provides some of the funding required to do this work.
Rose said some people have been released from incarceration with nowhere to go or have mental health issues that require long-term supportive housing, which is lacking in Truro.
Some are on the province's public housing waitlist, which counted 7,020 people as of October. Rose said a couple of people have had luck getting housing from a priority access list, but most people don't qualify.
"It's going to take a long time for anyone really to have housing," Rose said, adding the rates of income assistance and the rental subsidy are creating a barrier.
According to the Department of Community Services, the monthly rate for someone living in a homeless shelter or transition house or living outside is $390 per month. And to qualify for the province's rent supplement program, a lease must have already been signed.
"Rent is just so high that that will cover a portion," Rose said. "But then they have to choose between having a roof over their head and not having food to eat or medications."
Local group of volunteers working around the clock
In early November, a local resident noticed the encampment and thought the people living there could use more support. He formed a Facebook group to co-ordinate food deliveries, laundry, donations, supply runs and transportation for the people living there.
In just a couple of weeks, the Meadow Dr. Homeless Encampment group has grown to more than 600 members.
One of the group's administrators, Mike McKay, said he and his wife, Krista, cook a hot meal for more than 18 unhoused people every day. He also helps drive people to do tasks like get medications and take showers.
"I just wanna keep them alive, fed, warm and dry until we can get them out of there," said McKay, adding members of the group are searching for housing options for people in the encampment.
McKay said the group administrators are meeting with the Truro Housing Outreach Society this week to figure out a way to collaborate.
"I'm looking forward to doing anything that will help these people get out of the cold," he said.
Potential solutions
Cathy Hinton, the newly elected mayor of the Town of Truro, said she's also calling a meeting with leaders, administrators and community organizations from both municipalities.
"It's a top priority for me as mayor," Hinton said. "I mean, housing is a fundamental right, everyone should have housing. That is not the case, it's very upsetting to me."
Hinton said a new warming centre could help in the short term. There is also a large swath of vacant land in Truro where a hospital once stood, and after the provincial election she plans to push the province to create affordable housing there.
Rose also has a vision — to see tiny homes built in the area.
"If those people had their own space to get stable in … and have just a place to rest their head where they're safe, that would be a great starting point."
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