Shelter beds open but tents remain outside Moncton homeless centre

It’s less than ideal, but people living on the streets of Moncton, N.B., who aren’t ready to enter a shelter have another option.

There’s currently around 30 snow-covered tents in the parking lot behind the Bridge to Home Hub on St. George Street.

One of the people staying there right now is Amanda Noiles.

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“It’s not too, too bad,” she said. “Cold. Really cold, actually. But it’s a lot easier than the shelters. You don’t got to worry about everything you have.”

The idea is to bring people sleeping on the streets closer to the resource centre where they can receive services, stay safe and then hopefully transition inside for the winter.

The initiative is a pilot project for the province’s Department of Social Development, the City of Moncton and the YMCA Outreach program.

Tents are set up in the back parking lot of the Bridge to Home Hub on St. George Street in Moncton, N.B., on Nov. 29, 2024. (CTV Atlantic/Derek Haggett)

OJ Cormier lives right next door and said it was hard not to miss the gradual increase in tents as the weeks went by this fall, but he doesn’t have an issue with the extra people outside his home.

“I think it’s a great idea. At least they’re in one spot and I think security is pretty happy with that,” said Cormier.

Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the City of Moncton, said the plan has a few goals including bringing people closer to community agencies while waiting for extra shelter beds to open, which was supposed to be on Dec. 1.

Isabelle LeBlanc, spokesperson for the City of Moncton, is seen. (CTV Atlantic/Derek Haggett)

However, Bridge to Home Hub made extra beds available on Thursday night in anticipation of the storm.

The city and the province are managing the open space, but the resource centre is run by the John Howard Society of Southeast New Brunswick.

“We were already prepared for the opening,” said executive director Dan Brooks. “We wanted to be able to provide shelter as best as we could as early as possible.”

But dozens of tents remained Friday morning, and many chose not to come inside to a warm bed.

“We are hoping that those people will start to make the transition inside,” said Brooks. “We do know that some people just do not want to be inside, so we do foresee the yard having some role in the future. We’re just not 100 per cent sure what that will look like.”

The city is still evaluating the impact of the initiative, but LeBlanc said they’ve received positive reports from some of the people staying there.

“Many of the women feel particularly safe in that space. We do provide 24/7 security,” said LeBlanc.

Noiles said she feels much safer inside.

“It’s scary out here. I’ve been out here for two years. Security is great. They check on us every 15 minutes and there’s no drugs, which is even better,” said Noiles.

Amanda Noiles is pictured on Nov. 29, 2024. (CTV Atlantic/Derek Haggett)

LeBlanc said the need for law enforcement in the area has also decreased over the past few weeks.

“Our numbers, our calls into bylaw and Codiac RCMP have gone down which are all for us positive success indicators so far,” said LeBlanc.

Cormier has noticed that too.

“The bylaw officers are having more of an easy time where they are. Now they know where they all are,” said Cormier.

LeBlanc says the pilot project is supposed to run until Sunday when additional out of the cold beds become available, but the space will still be available for those who choose to stay outside.

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.