ASSAULTS AT SHELTERS ON THE RISE

The two largest shelters for the homeless in Edmonton are the Herb Jamieson Centre and Hope Mission. The Coalition for Justice and Human Rights obtained documents via a freedom of information request, there were 443 assaults since 2021. These shelters are meant to be safe sites but this data confirms that one of the reasons that some homeless people give for not going to shelters or preferring not to is because of the risk of assault and violence within the shelters or immediately outside. More staff training and a greater police presence are tow of the suggested practices to bring these numbers down.

In addition to the assaults workers at the two centres have to contend with what happens because of overcrowding. There are bacteria and viral outbreaks, bacterial infections with parasites like lice and bedbugs. Overcrowding will continue as long as the number of homeless grows so the challenge remains as how to better deal with the problems of overcrowding.