Concerns raised about temporary homeless shelter

People living near a former furniture store slated to be turned into an emergency homeless shelter are divided over the plan.

City officials plan to renovate the empty Brick store building on 16th Avenue in the northeast part of the city and operate it as a shelter from December to March.

On Thursday night, more than 150 people, many from the neighbourhoods of Crescent Heights and Balmoral, packed a public meeting to tell the city what they thought about the plan.

Some took to the microphone and said they were glad their community could help the needy.

Others said they had concerns about safety, or the soundness of spending hundred of thousands of dollars on renovating a building that will be torn down in the spring to make room for a road widening.

"I am not entirely opposed to this project because I think there are a lot of people out there who deserve housing and they do have full-time jobs and can't afford to live in Calgary," said one woman.

"Although I know it's just a small percentage of people who would cause problems, I do live alone How do I know it is still going to be safe for me to go outside?"

"I think it's shameful for the city to think of spending a dime on a building that's about to be demolished," another resident said.

Alderman would live near the shelter

Ald. Druh Farrell told her constituents that based on how well other temporary shelters have been run, she would have no problems living near one.

"They're going to have to see it before they believe it I think," she said after the meeting.

"We have a challenge in front of us because we have very few locations available to house the homeless over the winter months and winter is here."

The temporary shelter will sleep 300 people and will be run by the Mustard Seed.

The clients will be pre-screened and bused in and out of the neighbourhood, said Floyd Perras, the agency's senior operations officer.

Warming shelter to open

Meanwhile, two social agencies are joining forces to ensure homeless people have a safe and warm place to stay overnight until the new shelter opens.

The Mustard Seed and Alpha House will open a "warming centre" next week in the Mustard Seed's Creative Centre on 11th Avenue.

"We don't want any one to die this winter because they were out in the cold," said Perras.

The facility will be able to handle 70 people until the Brick shelter opens. More space will be opened if needed, said Perras.

Organizations that work with the homeless say there aren't enough shelter beds in Calgary because of the number of people flooding into the city to look for work.

The province's super-heated economy has sent housing prices soaring and the rental vacancy rate has dropped so low that even some people with full-time jobs have been sleeping in their cars or on mats in shelters.