Out of the Cold, which abruptly lost its contract with the province to run two shelters in the Halifax area, says it was caught off guard an
A non-profit group that abruptly lost its contract with the province to run two shelters in the Halifax area says it was caught off guard and is left speculating about the reasons why. Eric Jonsson, vice-chair of the board for Out of the Cold Community Association, said he and two others with the group were called to a meeting with provincial staffers Tuesday morning where they were handed a letter that said Out of the Cold would no longer be involved in operating two modular supportive housing sites. One is on Cogswell Street in Halifax and the other on Church Street in Dartmouth. Together they house more than 60 people. Jonsson said they were given 30 minutes to leave the property, escorted by security personnel — an experience he described as surreal and insulting. "It is my job as a board member to kind of oversee the big picture. And we didn't see this coming," Jonsson said in an interview Thursday. He said he feels some responsibility for not anticipating the move, although he does not fully understand the province's decision or the way it carried it out. "I've heard of places being, you know, service providers being replaced, but it's never within like a half-hour notice. You give people a month or two to kind of tidy things up to ensure a smooth transition." Scott Armstrong, the minister of opportunities and social development, said the contract with Out of the Cold was coming up for renewal in early August, and his department decided to end it early and change service providers because of concerns that he said had been brewing for several years. The group has run the two shelters since they opened in 2022 in response to surging rates of homelessness, rising rents and a low vacancy rate.
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So a harm reduction shelter group in my city has been running two module shelter sites that the province set up for the past three years, this past Tuesday members of their board were called into a meeting where they were told they were being replaced as service providers and had 30 minutes for staff and volunteers to leave the properties (with security)
The province is claiming that it's over concerns regarding how Out of the Cold was running the sites and says it's not the harm reduction practices but has declined to say what it is or why it was so time sensitive to give no notice to staff or residents.
@allthecanadianpolitics maybe the kind of thing relevant to your blog
