The pending closure of a daily drop-in centre that provides services for the homeless dominated a committee meeting at Hamilton City Hall on Thursday afternoon.
A large crowd was in attendance, hoping to urge the Emergency and Community Services Committee to step in and save the Wesley Day Centre.
Wesley Urban Ministries said it’s been forced to close its day centre on Ferguson Avenue as of August 23, because the landlord isn’t renewing its lease.
The committee couldn’t issue a formal direction since only four councillors were on hand to hear delegations, leaving them one shy of quorum, but Stoney Creek’s Brad Clark did make an informal request.
Clark notes that “most of us around the room here are a little bit concerned about what’s going on, we’re concerned about the impact, we’re concerned about what it’s going to do to people’s lives.”
He informally added that “perhaps staff can be prepared to discuss options at our next meeting.”
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The Shelter Health Network’s Jill Wiwcharuk, who was among those presenting to the committee, says that allowing the Wesley Day Centre to disappear will send a message to the most vulnerable that “their lives don’t matter.”
Hamilton Food Share’s Joanne Santucci adds that it should be seen as an “essential service”, warning councillors that while they might not realize it’s out there, day to day, “you’ll notice when it’s not.”