Halifax-area tent encampment hopes new upgrades will help as temperatures drop | 24CA News
As residents residing in a Lower Sackville ballpark put together for freezing winter circumstances within the months forward, a number of neighborhood members are volunteering each time and funds to minimize the burden.
Samantha Banks, vp of the Gated Community, a gaggle that goals to offer help for residents of the Cobequid Ballfield tent encampment within the Halifax-suburb of Lower Sackville, stated they’ve been in a position to increase sufficient funds to purchase a big army tent and 21 heated ice-fishing tents for the world’s unhoused.
She stated there are additionally plans for a brand new wooden range to be put in.
“It’s going to be a mad dash to get that done before it’s too cold and we can’t do it,” she stated, referring to the not too long ago bought ice fishing tents which are anticipated to reach in a couple of days. “When it came to the military tent, they (the residents) saw that this was a need … something they could really benefit from.”
Fortunately, she stated the tent firm chipped in and lined the delivery prices, which proved to be useful contemplating the general price ticket of about $6,000.
“Military-style tents are meant for our military to be up north in cold climates, and we needed something to last through wind, rain, and snow,” she stated, including work nonetheless must be finished surrounding the set up of flooring and the wooden range inside.
A not too long ago bought, $6,000 army tent is stationed on the Cobequid Ballfield in Lower Sackville.
Stephen Rehbert, who at present resides in a tent on the ball area, stated he’s been residing within the space for 11 months and may be very happy with the upgraded assets coming into the world.
“I’m blessed that this tent’s coming in,” he stated. “I can cook food on my wood stove and make eggs … being able to cook those and not let them go frozen and bad, it’s nice.”
Rehbert stated he seems to be ahead to there being a “warm and safe spot.”
Banks stated the brand new wooden range is anticipated to supply quality-of-life advantages past simply the primary aim of assuaging discomfort from lowering temperatures.
“Wintertime can be hard for people’s mental health in general, if you’re staying in a tent? That’s even worse, so being able to socialize and come together, that’s invaluable,” she stated. “Having the wood stove, it’s a consistent source of heat … they can even heat up a pot on top of it, so they can come in, get warm, or if anyone has an emergency where their tents come down or a newcomer comes, there’s a safe place to come and stay warm.”
As an instance, Banks stated about 10 tents have been knocked over throughout heavy wind and rain circumstances final week.
“We were scrambling, trying to figure out where we were going to put people that were freezing cold in the wind and rain,” she stated. “We just can’t have that. We have to have something for them in place.”
Samantha Banks, vice-president of The Gated Community, a volunteer-run non-profit that gives help to residents of the Cobequid Ballfield.
Vanessa Wright
In addition to the latest upgrades being bought by fundraising, Banks stated two neighborhood members provided a trailer to the world for a six-month interval, which can present residents with a further location with electrical energy.
“Over half of the ball field doesn’t have access to electricity right now … so they’ll be able to stay warm,” Banks added.
Her non-profit group held an public sale final week, which introduced in about $5,000 and was used to buy the ice-fishing tents.
Regarding communication with officers, she stated her group steadily coordinates with municipal officers to find companies for the encampment, however assets have confirmed to be restricted.
“I think the province needs to step up and try to figure out a gameplan for what’s going to happen, at this point, we’re just counting on the fact that they (residents) will be here for most of the winter,” she stated, including that their latest method of fundraising to buy assets is just because they’ll’t “wait any longer. Winter’s here, so if we continue to wait people are going to get hurt or are going to die.”
“It (used to be) very easy for people to pass by and turn a blind eye to what was happening because it wasn’t in their immediate sightline, but now with these encampments being set up … people are seeing them,” she stated. “These are people, just like you and I. We wouldn’t let an animal live like this, so why would we let people live like this?”
Banks stated she and the group of volunteers, which started providing help to these residing tough within the Lower Sackville encampment following extreme flash flooding in the summertime, “aren’t going anywhere.”
She stated her non-profit will proceed offering bodily assets, together with “personal and professional development” for these in the neighborhood comparable to assist with issues like resume-building.
“It’s a lot easier to do that in a place that’s warm, like a large tent, versus the snow,” she stated.
— with recordsdata from Ella Macdonald
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