Women report unsafe conditions in St. John's emergency shelters with nowhere else to go

While non-profitshelters in St. John's were over capacity and turning people away this year,women were reporting unsafe conditions at for-profit emergency shelters around the city.

New documents obtained by CBC News show a list of complaints registered with the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation againstthe private shelters that fall within its jurisdiction dating back to April.

The complainantswere people with nowhere else to go. When N.L. Housing can't place someone at a non-profit shelter, they turn to the private sector. Advocates say the housing crunch has been especially hard for women, since Iris Kirby House is the only shelter dedicated for women and children fleeing violence, and it's been forced to turn away more women than it can take in.

The documents, obtained through access-to-information legislation, paint a picture of dilapidated housing with few measures in place to ensure safety.

"The women in the shelter advised they were being continually solicited for sex by another shelter guest and felt incredibly unsafe," one complaint reads."[Name redacted] showed staff the bathroom door which does not fully close. There are men reportedly walking in on the women there."

Another complainant spoke about how the front door didn't lockand there were people coming and going from the shelter at all hours of the night. Several reported open drug use and substandard living conditions.

"She claims the bed she is using has blood on it and smells of urine," one complaint reads.

There were also repeated complaints, from women and men, about the food in the city's private shelters.

People in emergency shelters are often on government income support, the rate of which is reduced when they go into a shelter because food is supposed to be provided. The complaints show shelter owners were sometimesscolded by the department for not providing adequate food.

One note said residents of a home in St. John's were given a microwave dinner, a Pizza Pop, a pack of gummy candy, a Pop Tart and a two-litre of pop for an entire day. Another said residents weren't provided with food until after 11 a.m.

'We should all be concerned'

Bridget Clarke, advocacy director for the St. John's Status of Women Council, said the details outlined in the complaints are sadbut not surprising.

A system that pays landlords hundreds of dollars per night to house desperate people with complex needs is fundamentally flawed, she said, and doesn't provide the kind of support people need to get into a stable situation.

"Any time there is a system set up where people can profit from other people who are obviously struggling and living day to day in a way that their needs are not met, that'sa dangerous situation and can be exploitative no matter what," Clarke said."That's really a system that should be designed in a way that people can't profit off it, because it's a really vulnerable situation and not one that should be made more dangerous at the hands of profit."

Advocates saythe strain on shelters has reacheda boiling point in recent months. There are about 140 to 160 shelter beds in the metro area, according to End Homelessness St. John's,and 226peopleexperiencing homelessness as of the latest count in October.

With a rental market short on supply, and surging demand for shelter beds, Clarke said now is the time for the provinceto consider ways to divert people away from private shelters. One solution could be finding a use for the NLHC'smulti-room units, which have a higher vacancy rate than one- and two-bedroom homes. Clarke said it's time to consider renting those out as multi-tenant leases, the same as people do in the private sector.

"That's a setup that can really work for people but is not always available to people because of limiting or specific lease agreements," she said.

The complaints contained within the documents cause Clarke to worry not just about the people living in emergency shelters today, but also for those who are staying in other situations to avoid going into a shelter.

"Nobody wants to be in emergency shelters," she said. "People who we know go to all kinds of lengths to avoid being in shelters. We know people who are staying in places that aren't safe. We know people who continue to couch surf in really unreliable conditions to avoid going to a shelter."

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