Lethbridge camps remain: ‘It’s like a campground’ – Lethbridge | Globalnews.ca

A handful of tents are scattered along the edge of Lethbridge’s Civic Center Park.

The Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization (LSCO) building is on the north side of the homeless camp and this year has seen executive director Rob Miyashiro, the largest gathering in that area so far.

“When it got warm, early in the spring we saw some tents coming up and it started to form as the weather got better,” Miyashiro said. “Literally, it’s like a campground.”

This is not the only camp in the city. The second is located outside the Lethbridge Shelter and Resource Centre.

On June 1, the city partnered with other organizations to conduct a “compassionate eviction” of that camp, but as of Tuesday, tents are visible in the area.

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Tent camp grows near Lethbridge Shelter

Despite a noticeable presence outside LSCO, Miyashiro isn’t listening to the same concerns as in years past.

“We see fewer people hanging from the front. I know I haven’t received complaints about people hanging around the parking lot that we had before,” Miyashiro said. “People who go camping seem to cling to themselves.”

But he believes it is a problem that requires action.

“Assistant accommodation is one thing,” Miyashiro said. “Not only supportive housing, but if we are going to rehabilitate people rapidly, where are we going to put them? There’s nowhere to put them.”

According to the city, there were 135 camps in Lethbridge in 2021, a 50 percent increase from the previous year.

On Tuesday, the council introduced a resolution that would instruct the administration to report on the current process of dismantling the camps and provide a strategy on what the province recommends for advocacy on affordable housing.

Councilor John Middleton-Hope said, “Effective removal of these environments requires options, regulations and resources and a relocation strategy must be developed that will accommodate temporary housing on city-owned land where these camps are located.” can be managed better.”

“We need to step up our game because people are suffering,” Councilor Jeff Carlson said. “They don’t have a home. They need space, they need protection and shelter.”

The resolution passed unanimously and the administration will also consider options for changing the bye-laws to help address the issue.