Yes in my backyard: Halifax volunteers help the homeless as winter nears

Standing in a homeless encampment on the outskirts of Halifax, Aaron Haynes says food, advice and supplies from volunteers warm his spirits — even as winter’s bitter cold draws closer by the day.

“They’re doing God’s work, as the expression goes. They’ve actually helped me with my mental health,” said Haynes, who lives in a tent in Lower Sackville, on a ball field that the Halifax Regional Municipality has designated as a site for the homeless.

“They go around and talk to everyone and they make sure they’re OK,” Haynes said. “They’re actually doing nice things for people, which is amazing.”

Nearby, Samantha Banks, vice-president of The Gated Community — Cobequid Ball field, a group that helps the homeless, says she’s just one of a growing number of Nova Scotians who are banding together to form non-profit groups and Facebook networks to assist people without homes.

At one time, the homeless population in suburban areas tended to be out of sight and in wooded areas, Banks, an emergency nurse with two children, said in an interview Tuesday. However, she said, that era is over. “It (homelessness) is real, it’s prevalent and it’s in our communities and someone needs to do something about it.”

Her group provides everything from clean underwear to daily hot meals, served under a donated, grey tarp each night.

“Tough love isn’t the way to deal with this kind of situation. Nobody wants to live in a tent … the vast majority will soon be trudging through snow to get to a porta-potty.”

However, her non-profit is growing increasingly anxious about how the ball field community — and other city-designated encampments — will survive the winter. Its residents are awaiting word on a promise by the province to provide Halifax with 100 “pallet houses” — small units with locks, electricity, but no plumbing.

On Thursday, Trevor Boudreau, minister of Community Services, wasn’t providing a firm date on the units. He said the province has ordered them and is working with municipalities on places they can be located, adding that the homes should be ready for occupancy in “the next couple of weeks.”

Paul Russell, the councillor for the Lower Sackville area, says initial plans to erect the pallet shelters outside a sports facility, just two kilometres from the ball field, are now unclear because of “concerns” from local residents.

“It’s that nobody wants them (the pallet shelters) in their backyard … so it’s a matter of trying to find the most compatible locations for them,” he said in an interview Thursday. It’s almost certain there won’t be enough pallets for the roughly 178 people living in tents across the municipality, he added.

With all the uncertainty, Banks said her group has co-ordinated donations of insulated tarps and portable propane heaters for people, but she said she’s still “petrified” at the danger cold weather poses to the residents.

About 15 kilometres away, behind a graveyard in the suburb of Dartmouth, volunteers are working away at another small encampment on a city field — and also fearing how tenters will fare once the cold weather arrives.

Pam Taylor says she’s trying to start a similar non-profit to the one in Lower Sackville, calling her group “Caring for our community.” Her goal is to create a day shelter where people can receive support and an evening meal.

“We want to build community and then help refer people to services,” she said in an interview Tuesday.

Ryan Bradley, who lives in his broken-down jeep, says he hopes Taylor succeeds. He recently suffered burns during a hotel fire, and after he was released from hospital he couldn’t find an affordable room anywhere in the city.

Taylor’s idea “would be helpful for anyone in my situation,” Bradley said in an interview Tuesday, adding that as the temperatures fall he can’t afford to keep his portable propane heater on.

“Some place to go and get warm, maybe a bite to eat, and a friendly smile, it helps a lot,” he said.

Michael Kabalen, executive director of the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, says that while the volunteers are helpful, the problems are deep and require an urgent and widespread government response. His association’s website says there are 1,051 homeless residents in the Halifax area.

“The real solution is about finding the appropriate, adequate housing for that person,” he said in an interview Thursday. “If they’re living with mental illness or substance abuse, we want to help them through those challenges and find them the right type of housing that provides supports for those challenges.”

At the encampment in Lower Sackville, with temperatures forecast to fall below zero during the weekend nights, the presence of a team of unpaid volunteers is making Haynes a little more hopeful.

And Yvonne Strba, who co-ordinates the nightly meals for 40 to 45 people, says that to date about 150 to 200 people have contributed hot food, and that there’s no sign of enthusiasm waning.

“I have a good amount of energy for this,” Strba said in a telephone interview Thursday. “It’s something I believe in strongly … so long as people continue to want to help, we’ll motor on.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2023.