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Ongoing affordability concerns, the flow of people from correctional facilities into the community, high levels of mental illness and other factors remain the open taps for homelessness. Until those are closed off, organizations like Hope Mission will continue to be essential.

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Hope Mission operates a 24-7 rescue van program wherein staff go out in vans to connect with people on the street. Photo by Claudio Frimmel

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In that vein, the Hope Mission’s other big move of late is to try to further decentralize services, which is an important goal for the city, but has rarely proved a smooth process when other social agencies have attempted it. Everybody likes the idea until their neighbourhood is involved.

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In this case, Hope Mission’s proposal is to construct a 120-bed shelter in a south-side industrial area — not unlike its west-end CarePoint shelter — transforming part of a warehouse facility the agency has been using on Girard Road near 76 Avenue. That would mean 120 fewer beds in Chinatown.

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If approved, the agency would shuttle clients to the facility where there would be a broad suite of services, including food and day spaces. Pasma said there is a possibility it could be designed as a recovery-oriented shelter and/or for people nervous about staying in the core.

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Because this is not the typical use of an industrial area, the proposal must go through a city council rezoning hearing this week, which is sure to attract some opposition. And part of me gets the concern.

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(Council heard from speakers Monday but debate and decision has been punted to Aug. 25.)

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On one hand, such a location largely avoids the typical outrage about placing shelters near residential communities, schools, retail hubs and so on. Yet you wonder about creating the opposite problem in which the clients might feel overly isolated without much stimulation.

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When people decide to venture out, the first thing they will see is a casino directly across the street, which is obviously not ideal. Libraries, parks and other public facilities are not particularly close, so getting to them requires a ride or transit trip, which then raises the question of how, or if, people come back later.

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Talking to a couple of area business owners, they expressed worry about the effect on their customers, and noted the risk from a heavy rail line that runs directly behind the proposed shelter location. The city received similar concerns in its consultations, which boiled down to arguments that industrial lands and homeless shelters are simply a bad fit.

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However, I also talked to some of Chinatown’s leaders for their perspective on what this project would mean.

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In truth, optimism is up in the district of late, they said, in part due to recent development activity and stronger collaborations with the city and EPS, but also because relations are a lot better these days with Hope Mission and other social agencies in the district.

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The leaders particularly noted Hope Mission’s efforts to help clean the community daily, and to reduce litter by requiring clients to eat indoors.

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And yet, despite noted progress, much of the desired revitalization for Chinatown still depends on carrying through with decentralization, said Sandy Pon, chair of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative.

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She said there is an understanding in the community that there will always be some level of homelessness and social services in the area, but it deserves a chance to feel less overwhelmed. For too long, the district has simply had to endure too many people with too much neglected need.

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“If the average person feels fearful, they won’t come and they’ll tell their friends not to come,” said Pon. “And if we don’t improve Chinatown, Downtown will feel it, too.”