Luc Aubut has lived a few houses down the road from Ensemble Moncton, a harm reduction organization that offers a safe injection site, for a year and a half.
He said he frequently hears the sirens of emergency vehicles dispatched to Ensemble.
“The ambulance, the police will make it here eventually, fire trucks … it does happen and it happens a little bit more in winter because of the camping,” he said on Thursday.
He said he has empathy for those who use the service, and it doesn’t impact his day-to-day life.
“I can understand and it doesn’t really bother me much,” he said.
Not everyone is so understanding, as Ensemble executive director Debby Warren said some neighbours have made complaints.
Ensemble is installing a fence around the perimeter of the building’s rear parking lot.
Warren says this will be a benefit for Ensemble’s neighbours and clients.
“We just want to create a safe atmosphere,” Warren said.
“Having this area that gives privacy to (the clients), my staff can monitor them from the back area and get to them.”
She said Ensemble will soon be open seven days a week, as it has hired six more staff members.
It has also hired security to watch the area in the evenings.
Salvus clinic, another harm reduction organization that offers medical services, housing support and harm reduction services to a vulnerable population, has been looking for a new location for months.
Executive director Melissa Baxter suspects NIMBYism — “not in my backyard” — is a factor preventing them from finding a new location, as they’ve faced several rejections from potential landlords.
“When we first received our eviction notice I thought this is the perfect opportunity for us to look for a new space because we had well grown out of our previous location,” Baxter said.
She said they never had any issues with tenants or neighbours at their previous location at the Community Peace Centre.
“We had a community health centre with five exam rooms where all of the nurse practitioners and all of the medical providers were able to provide their services,” she said.
She said the fact that they have been without a location since they moved out in October is “unbelievable,” and she never thought they would face such difficulty.
The clinic is operating at a reduced capacity out of its mobile health unit as well St. George’s Anglican Church in downtown Moncton.
“That’s kind of a touchpoint, if individuals are looking for Salvus, we can assist with navigating,” she said.
“We’re not sure where people are going. We make assumptions, perhaps. Clients are definitely asking when we’re going to be able to re-establish services,”
Baxter is asking members of the public to come forward with suggestions for a new location.
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