Where did everyone in Moccasin Flats go?

While this certainly sounds like great news, as the end goal of homelessness is getting people safely housed, Fredriksson and several people who live in supportive housing say that unfortunately, the “safe” aspect is missing, among other shortfalls.

“It’s out of sight, out of mind. In Moccasin Flats, there is a lot of, thefts, crime, person on person violence. I think it’s sort of just been shifted into these supportive housing units. I know a lot of the staff have to deal with that on a daily basis. There’s been murders,” Fredriksson said.

“Some of the things that are making it difficult is that they’re back into the same behavior that was happening down in Moccasin Flats. So they’re kicking in each other’s doors, robbing each other, stabbing each other. It’s just ongoing,” he continued.

“There is multiple thefts, (regarding) the security, there could be more cameras. It’s hard for the staff to keep track of who comes in and out of there, and people jump over the fences and everything. It’s not too safe,” said Danielle Willier, one of many who live in supportive housing.

Security and safety remains a top concern, which is directly linked to the general sense of wellbeing and comfort when living in a supportive housing unit. Willier and Fredriksson both say the environment within these supportive housing units is lacking a sense of community.

“We got to build that dignity, the relationship of dignity, building the people up because they’ve been out there with the fight or flight (mentality), you know, that’s what I came from. And it means a lot to have somewhere safe to call home,” Willier said.

“The supportive housing units are helpful, but they’re not giving people the opportunity to thrive or recover in dignity or just have an opportunity to get a foot up. I feel like we’re just sort of caging them,” Fredriksson added.

Prince George Mayor Simon Yu says he is happy to see people moved into supportive housing and out of Moccasin Flats, but acknowledged these problems raised by Fredriksson and Willier are a big issue. Yu says he and the City are aware of this and are continually working on not only getting people into supportive housing, but buidling up the resources to safely transition people off the streets and into safe, secure, living.

“Supportive housing is very much the first step, alongside a temporary supporting housing which will come online, which also will be so important. And then from there we are looking forward to finishing off the 60 unit (care complex) on first avenue where a mental health patient can get better services,” Yu said.

“I’m sure the problem just won’t go away, unless we have a complete wraparound services for treatment. We are working as a City very closely with RCMP to monitor the situation,” he added.

On the topic of wraparound services, Yu says homelessness is a series of interconnected problems, and can’t be treated as if each aspect is its own unique circumstance. While he says supportive housing is certainly a large element of the solution, it certainly is not the only solution.

“Most importantly, we need services for mental health and drug addiction treatment and those I believe will come online in the months and days ahead,” he said.

Willier also believes in the importance of these extra resources to help people get off the streets, but adds the services don’t mean much if the people can’t access them. This is another large obstacle she believes needs to be overcome, as she explained so many people coming out of homelessness and into supportive housing may not be able to simply ask for services, as she says living on the streets enforces a mentality where you never ask for help and tough things out alone.

“For me, growing up with my barriers, I’ve always been on the other side of the law because I didn’t know any better. That’s what I was born into, and it takes a while to unlearn those things, you know? And it is hard to be vulnerable because my whole life, I was taught not to cry or to be strong and all this and that, right? And it’s hard to put yourself out there, and I talked to a lot of my peers and they have the same issues,” Willier said.

Yu acknowledged this is another, and something he would like to see corrected. One way both Willier and Fredriksson believe this could be corrected is if supportive housing units hire people with lived experience, so they would know better how to reach out to these people and help get them the resources necessary.

“It’s not an easy thing for someone to do when they’ve been living in fight or flight for a long period of time,” Fredriksson said.

“It’s really important for us to pass on knowledge to each other and use the resources that we have, because there is lots of resources, just people don’t know about them,” Willier added.

“While much is made of the logistics and optics behind addressing these key issues around homelessness, one enormous aspect is simple but incredibly effective, being community.

“We’re slowly getting there, but we definitely need the community to step up a little bit more and be more involved in transitioning these people back to a life that isn’t lived fight or flight,” Fredriksson said.

“To take a positive step, to address all of these issues, we need to connect with the people. And more importantly, we need to get the stigma out of the general public, ee first of all have to look at them as a brothers and sisters as well,” Yu said.

While challenges certainly remain in supportive housing, Yu hopes more services will be on the way soon, including Atco supportive housing trailers, to continue helping people get off the streets and help facilitate a safe transition into a secure and stable living situation

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by Tommy Osborne

Where did everyone in Moccasin Flats go?

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