Residents, advocates and supporters held a rally outside Confederation Building over the lunch hour to send a message to government to keep Horizons 106 open.
Government will be shutting the facility down in December, leaving residents uncertain about what’s ahead.
Rally organizer Mary Walsh spoke to the dozens who turned out, saying the “for-profit” system doesn’t work.
Mary Walsh (VOCM News)
“They were promised a transition to safer housing, to better housing – that this was a transitionary period.” Walsh said “And now they’re going into a place that is for profit – it’s for profit and, let’s face it, for-profit prisons, for profit private shelters – they just have not been working.”
She says that they were promised a safe transition into adequate housing, and that wasn’t the case.
Horizons resident Gracie Smith brought a letter she had addressed to the government, breaking down the issues facing the 40 or so people still living there.
Gracie Smith, a resident of Horizons 106 (VOCM News)
“We were promised homes. Not another program, not a temporary arrangement. Not another revolving door through the system,” Smith continues “We were assured the residents would not end up in places like tent city, St. Clare’s, or the Gathering Place. Yet, with this last announcement, it appears those promises are falling short. Residents are now facing the possibility of returning to the very environment they fought so hard to leave.”
