Pubdate: Sun, 12 May 2002
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Kamloops Daily News
Contact:  http://www.southam.com/kamloopsdailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679
Author: Susan Duncan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)

COUNCIL WRONG TO PUT OFF APPROVAL

If only two property owners express opposition at a public hearing on a 
zoning change, it would seem apparent the neighbourhood is basically 
content with the project being proposed.

It's strange then that city council would feel that there had not been 
enough opportunity for public input on the zoning change to allow an 
emergency shelter for women downtown.

Notices of the public hearing were hand-delivered to immediate neighbours, 
advertisements were put in the newspaper and a four foot by six foot sign 
has been in front of the proposed property for months. Yet, council put off 
for one week the decision on the zoning change to allow for more public 
consultation.

Kiwanis House, with support from the city social planning council and the 
committee on homelessness, is eligible for $250,000 in funding from the 
federal government to buy and renovate a house at 467 St. Paul St. The home 
will be used as an emergency shelter for women. Another $150,000 is 
available for staffing.

Kiwanis House is an addiction treatment facility that has more than proved 
itself as a responsible and worthwhile citizen in Kamloops. The house on 
Columbia Street is primarily for men with substance abuse problems. It's 
run with compassion, but with strict rules for its residents.

There is no reason to think the same requirements for safety, the law and 
respect for neighbours won't be in place at the emergency shelter proposed 
for women.

Neighbours are worried the shelter will attract drug dealers and pimps who 
will prey on the women seeking refuge at the home. It's far more likely 
drug dealers and pimps will stay in the area as it currently exists. Sex 
trade workers haunt the corners all over the neighbourhood.

This shelter is a progressive step in offering these women a chance to turn 
their lives around. Shelter staff will be trained to direct the residents 
into programs that may result in getting them off drugs and off the streets 
where they ply their trade to get money for their addiction.

People associated with criminal activities are far less likely to hang 
around a shelter that is operated by people with no tolerance for their 
behaviour. Shelter staff won't hesitate to bring in the police to protect 
their residents. Pimps and drug dealers know it. As Sgt. Randy Brown noted, 
police rarely get called to the other women's shelter in town.

It's understandable that neighbours, although most are at least two blocks 
away, are worried about increased crime rate in their area. However, this 
shelter is much more likely to help bring the crime rate down than it is to 
increase it.

The federal government is prepared to give Kiwanis House $400,000 because 
it was so impressed with the planning undertaken by the local committee on 
homelessness. To jeopardize that money in any way is foolish.

City council should not hesitate in approving the rezoning at 467 St. Paul 
St. when the issue comes before councillors again next Tuesday.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jackl