We should be exploring how we can ensure safe community spaces are available for those in need this winter.
Thanks to Teviah Moro for the front-page article on Thursday titled “Homeless turn to library, mall for warmth.”
I always appreciate Moro’s articles, as he actually goes to speak to people and doesn’t shy away in fear from those who are often looked on as “other.”
I was taken aback, however, by what he reported were going to be the repercussions of the difficult situations being faced by the Central Branch of the Hamilton Public Library.
Later in the day, I saw a social media post by the Hamilton Public Library confirming their response to the crisis will be to open an hour later each day and to shift to being closed on Sunday starting on Feb. 1.
I understand that this safe space cut back is due to lack of adequate and appropriate staffing (particularly social workers) at those hours. However, I would hope that this issue could be resolved in a way that doesn’t increase the burden on vulnerable Hamiltonians who find themselves homeless during an incredibly cold and snowy winter.
Various news sources have recently shared that we are experiencing, and will continue to bear the impact of, the coldest weather in the past decade as a polar vortex arrives in the wake of the coldest air mass on earth descending on Ontario.
It is in this reality that city council is about to allow what has been a consistent, safe community space to provide less consistent safe community space for our fellow constituents, with potentially fatal and definitely health-impacting implications.
Our vulnerable homeless neighbours need more safe, warm spaces to survive the same cold that many of us are hunkering down in our homes to avoid. We should be exploring how we can ensure that appropriate staffing and support capacity is in place at safe community spaces such as the Central Branch of the Hamilton Public Library and Jackson Square, not less.
If the current Hamilton Public Library budget can’t handle increasing social worker availability on site at the Central Branch, then the City of Hamilton has an obligation to its vulnerable constituents to supplement the library’s budget to ensure they are able to maintain a safe community space for all.
In addition, since Jackson Square is also a known place of refuge for our homeless neighbours, we need to step up and figure out how we can provide support in the mall as well, instead of just posting security guards to chase fellow Hamiltonians out.
Decreasing library hours is not good enough. With the coldest air mass in the world descending on Ontario, we need to step up and do what’s right, ensuring that each person in Hamilton is safe from the cold, no matter what the cost.
This article was written by our Executive Director, Alice Plug-Buist. It originally appeared in the Hamilton Spectator. Please support local news by reading it at this link.
