Four couples living in tent encampment given housing, but advocates say the fight isn’t over yet | CBC News

Four couples living in a tent encampment across the street from Confederation Building in St. John’s have moved into permanent housing units, but advocates say it’s still a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed.

Shawn Nosworthy, who organized the ongoing homelessness protest outside the provincial legislature, says he received the keys to an apartment for him and his partner from the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation (NLHC) Friday afternoon. 

He says he’s been living in a tent since April, so having a roof over his head instead of a tarp has been a long time coming.

Nosworthy says a lot of work needs to be done to make his house a home, including being reunited with his son who is currently in Ontario.

He also says the fight continues for the hundreds of others who are living near Confederation Building and elsewhere across the province.

“I always fight for the little guy, and I won’t stop,” said Nosworthy. “So when I learned that we’re all going to be housed just in a timely manner, it made me really, really happy.”

The search for housing continues

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the NLHC said over the last week, officials have joined community partners such as End Homelessness St. John’s on multiple occasions to visit the individuals living in the encampment. 

The statement says some individuals have secured housing, or accepted placement in shelters to receive the “necessary supports” to secure more permanent housing. 

“All individuals in this group currently experiencing homelessness have been offered staffed shelter placements, where they would have access to supports and services, including case management and housing search services,” read the statement.

“The Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, along with other government departments and community partners are continuing efforts to secure more permanent housing options for others at the site,” the statement continued.

Nosworthy says that before government provided any individuals in the encampment with the prospect of permanent housing, he told officials with the NLHC that he would accept something “transitional,” as long as a permanent solution was on the horizon.

He says being trapped in the shelter system was never an option for him.

Nosworthy says the encampment, which initially formed during the first week of October, grows daily, with over a dozen people still living in tents.

Doug Pawson, the executive director of End Homelessness St. John’s, says that finding housing for every individual living in tents, either in the encampment or elsewhere across the city, has always been the goal.

He says the organization, alongside other community agencies and the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, have been working to help the people living in tents find and transition into secure housing.

So far, he says, couples have been prioritized because they have expressed that they don’t want to be separated from each other through the shelter system.

Pawson says the four housing units provided to the couples are part of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation’s existing “stock.”

Although it’s often “very difficult” to access, he says, there’s still private rental stock available in the community, so he’s optimistic about the prospect of helping more people in the encampment secure permanent housing.

“It’s going be a challenge if we don’t continue to really invest in the current private rental market that we have that’s still affordable and available, and if we don’t continue to build more non-market housing options,” said Pawson.

Homelessness rally planned 

A housing and homelessness rally is planned to take place on the steps of Confederation building Monday afternoon ahead of the first fall sitting of the House of Assembly, said rally organizer, Leigh Zachary Bursey.

Bursey, who is a housing advocate and activist, says he’s been planning the rally for months, and although he hasn’t been part of the tent encampment protest, some of those demonstrators will also join the rally. 

He says the goal is to get the government to declare a housing and homelessness emergency in the province.

“It’s no longer sufficient to just have that bootstraps mentality that’s previously existed, which was, ‘If you work hard, you will succeed,'” said Bursey, who is a member of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association’s board of directors.

“What we’re doing is we’re quantifying the value of someone’s life, prosperity and health based on their economic return. And the challenge is that these Band-Aids are expensive, but they’re not nearly as expensive as the disastrous outcome of doing nothing.”

Bursey, who lives in Mount Pearl, says he’s been homeless before, and knows what it’s like to be in such a precarious position. He says many homeless people in the province want to work but can’t find reasonably priced accommodations, trapping them in a vicious cycle.

It’s a situation Nosworthy knows all too well.

“It was a great feeling to know that instead of going back to a tent and having to deal with the elements again, that we were gonna be inside actual walls and not have to worry about rain or snow or any of that stuff,” he said.

“We fought through it as a group, and we won.”

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