The executive director of the Downtown Mission says 'we're doing the best we can' when it comes to addressing issues around the shelter in Windsor.
Executive Director Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin made the comment Thursday on AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show as she addressed concerns raised by Ward 3 city councillor Renaldo Agostino over the proximity of services and homeless shelters in and around downtown and the problems being caused in the city core by people facing homelessness, mental health, and addiction issues.
Agostino has asked city administration to prepare a report for the next meeting of the council on how other municipalities determine the location of emergency homeless shelters.
The mission is located at 875 Ouellette Ave., between Erie Street West and Elliott Street East, backing onto a number of homes along Pelissier Street.
Ponniah-Goulin says when their neighbours reach out to them and send pictures and videos, they respond and act on it, as they do believe in being accountable to their neighbours, community, and the people they serve.
"The people we serve and keeping people alive-that's our biggest concern," she says. "Our biggest concern isn't to walk down the street and pick someone up from someone else's lawn. We also can't do that; that's called kidnapping, and we're not allowed to do that."
Ponniah-Goulin says they also don't have the staff to go after people, try to talk to them for half an hour or an hour and try to get them to come back to the mission.
The city's current Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (H4), located in the former Water World at Wyandotte Street East, was opened in 2020, but the city has been exploring for a location to build an expanded site that could combine shelter and bed space with wraparound support services.
Ponniah-Goulin says there are reasons downtown has typically taken more of the load, but going forward we have to do what's best for our community.
"If that means moving out of the strict downtown core, maybe. As long as there are other services around that new H4 location, the mission and other organizations like us would have to make those considerations and move, if needed," she says.
Agostino also asked the administration to reexamine a proposal contained in a 2022 consultant's report that a permanent Homelessness and Housing Help Hub be placed within a two-kilometre radius of downtown Windsor, and if other locations are possible.