Herb Jamieson homeless shelter converts daytime beds to community space – Edmonton

Some changes to the way the Herb Jamieson Centre operates caught those who use the Edmonton homeless shelter by surprise.

The men’s emergency shelter run by the Hope Mission at 100 Street and 105A Avenue has a capacity of over 400 people and is supposed to operate 24/7, but a notice indicated posted on the door led people to believe it will no longer be open during the day.

“I’m just confused on why,” said Branden Adams, who is homeless but stays at the Herb Jamieson overnight.

He said he learned Tuesday night about the changes coming Wednesday morning. First, he said a staff member came into the bathroom and told people they should get some sleep soon, as they were being sent on their way earlier than normal the following morning. He also saw a notice about the change.

“They posted up a poster stating that we’re going to be kicked out at 6:30 every morning, whereas before it would be 8:30 that they would wake us up and then, you know, take our time leaving,” he said, explaining people could then return two hours later either to drop in, or have a shelter bed for the day.

“But now they’re going to be kicking us out at 6:30 every morning.”

Adams said the shelter being open during the day allowed staff to intervene with medical aid if someone was overdosing — out on the streets, he said people in those situations can fall asleep and freeze to death.

“That happens quite often — people do overdose — but thankfully they’re here and they have staff that are trained to Narcan them and call EMS and stuff like that,” Adams said.

A notice posted on the door of the Herb Jamieson said effective Jan. 22, the shelter was transitioning to operating exclusively during the nighttime hours. “The shelter will open daily at 8:30 p.m. And remain closed during the day,” the memo said.

It did not say why the change was made, leaving those who read it confused.

Tim Pasma with the Hope Mission clarified Wednesday afternoon the shelter is not closing completely during the day, but rather the space previously used for daytime sleeping has been converted to offer more services.

“More of a community space model where people can access things like housing, addiction treatment, recovery services, AIDS services, other social supports, things like that,” Pasma said.

“This change gives us the opportunity to be a bit more flexible with our programming and to ultimately try to help people into a better situation.”

Pasma said while 120 of the 24-7 sleep spaces are being shifted to overnight only, those beds weren’t being fully utilized during the day anyways.

“So what we wanted to do was shift resources and focus more on having more options for people to spend time during the day,” Pasma said.

He said the space will still have some beds in it.

“We can still take the same amount of people as we always have been in that building, but now we’re able to offer it just in a different model where we have a community space with tables, chairs, TVs. Areas where people can access housing services, things like that,” Pasma explained.

“We do still have some beds in that space where people can still choose to take a nap if they want to.”

The Alberta government also confirmed while changes have been made, the Herb Jamieson Centre remains open 24/7.

“Hope Mission is making changes to enable more support services for vulnerable people during the day in some areas of the building, but they continue to have sleep spaces available during the day,” said a statement from the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services.

Parnel St. Arnault, from Keg River in far northwestern Alberta, says he’s been homeless for 15 years. He said the news is frustrating.

“It’s not a good thing to be happening to us. We’re already struggling as it is to be homeless,” St. Arnault said.

He also feels the Herb Jamieson’s sleep spaces should remain open around the clock, especially in the winter.

“It should be 24/7 regardless, because where do we go after they close? You know where I go? This is it,” he said, gesturing around himself to the street in front of the shelter in central Edmonton.

“It’s basically like you’re in my living room right now because I live on the streets.”

St. Arnault said he often picks being out in the elements over going to a shelter: “They’re more dangers than being out here.”

“To be out here is extremely hard. You got to be one lucky guy. If you built a good camp and you can’t do that up here,” he said of the streets north of the downtown core where the bulk of the city’s social services are based.

“So a lot of times a guy will go down into the (river) valley and build a camp there. Make sure you got a hell of a good stove.”

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