Editor: A recent survey by the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors (CKAR) cites homelessness as the number one local concern. To restore community balance, we must tackle open-air drug use, encampment impacts, and critical support gaps head-on, rather than deflecting hard facts with virtue signalling or ignoring the daily, lived experiences of residents.
The reality of this crisis is backed by undeniable data. A recent surge in the unhoused population has fundamentally altered our local neighborhoods. According to needs-driven deployment logs, the Chatham-Kent Police Service (CKPS) had to increase its presence around the PUC encampment (on Grand Avenue East) by a staggering five times compared to the previous year. Similarly, the neighborhood surrounding the former shelter at Vic Park Place experienced a marked rise in calls for assistance regarding social disorder, requiring amplified police intervention.
These are facts, and they clearly point to an urgent need for structural change. Yet, whenever these hard realities are raised in public forums, they are too often met with deflection and defensive posturing from special-interest groups.
When the conversation is redirected to claim that raising public safety concerns stigmatizes people experiencing homelessness, the tactic effectively silences alternate views. Legitimate concerns are swiftly branded as a lack of empathy, paralyzing the momentum for real progress.
Furthermore, current attempts to steer the public discourse fall short. One-way messaging and videos produced without consulting the local businesses and citizens impacted by the proximity of homeless populations only serve to delay finding solutions. While reducing stigma and fostering understanding are undeniably worthwhile goals, they cannot be successfully achieved by turning away from statistical facts and police data.
When official presentations adopt the stance that legitimate, lived experiences should take a backseat to the need to be “educated,” to an alternate view, the approach deepens community division rather than building genuine understanding.
After all, it is local neighbours and business owners who navigate the daily realities of substance use, mental-health crises, social disorder, and public safety concerns.
Moving forward requires a balanced dialogue. For any community strategy to work, it must address the hardships faced by the unhoused population while also ensuring that residents and businesses feel safe in their own neighborhoods.
We don’t need another study. We don’t need another round of drug strategy presentations. We don’t need rhetoric. We need an acknowledgement that mistakes have been made.
VPP was a poor location for a shelter, and the PUC is a poor location for an encampment. Saying this is not stigmatizing the homeless, it is an acknowledgment of truth. A safe community is not achieved by pretending that concerns are only imagined. The facts tell a different story. Chatham-Kent’s path forward lies in acknowledging all sides of the issue, relying on empirical data, and valuing the lived experiences of everyone involved.
Maureen De Baene
Chatham
