Jeremy Kelly and Lyann Hunter, members of Nelson’s Street Outreach Team, are clearing up rumours circulating on social media that the June 26 clean-up of the unhoused encampment was conducted with hostility.
Community members took to Facebook in the days following the clean-up to allege that the city deployed a skid steer to intimidate a screaming woman in her shelter at the time of the eviction.
However, both Kelly and Hunter, who were on the scene acting as liaisons between the unhoused community members and the City, state that no one was in the vicinity when the city brought in the skid steer.
“The initial clean-up, which started at 8 a.m., went seamlessly. Everybody was happy to move. We provided a place for them to move to. There was a secondary move that took place at 4 p.m. Everybody was out of the vicinity when the city brought the skid steer in,” said Kelly, with Hunter adding that the woman community members were referring to on social media was gone before the skid steer was deployed.
The city provided a secondary spot for those who were sheltering at City Hall to relocate to, with Kelly adding that the camp residents had been informed well in advance that the move was coming and to be prepared.
“Being their frontline, we can attest to the fact that everybody moved willingly and that they fully understood. Everybody was respectful about it and they understood that, although they don’t have anywhere to go, that wasn’t the place for them to be. They were happy to move to the secondary location.”
Kelly said they were provided temporary refuge near the Highway 3A and Baker Street intersection until the City and BC Housing come up with a permanent solution.
Both Hunter and Kelly believe that the protest was effective in elucidating the local issue of homelessness in the community, prompting BC Housing to step in more rapidly than they would have without the protest.
“They succeeded in being able to move the ball forward. BC Housing is now a little quicker in accommodating, and being there proved a point,” stated Hunter.
In response to community criticism on how the City conducted the eviction, Kelly and Hunter praised City Council, staff, Nelson Police, Bylaw, and other organizations involved for the compassion that’s been extended to unhoused and marginalized community members consistently.
“The city could have been more heavy-handed, but they chose not to be. Again, the City, police, bylaw officers, all the parties involved worked really well together, including the residents. Everybody understood that it wasn’t the place to be.
We are frontline. We are here every day, we see what’s going on, we see the people’s needs, and we see how those needs are being met. For the most part, those needs are being met to the best of our ability, among other service providers, like the city. It’s not their job to be providing housing to our folks. It’s about meeting people where they are, and that’s what we try to do,” said Kelly.
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