Article contentAndre Van Dijk, a member of the Rivers District Communities Action Alliance, said the centre held community engagement sessions but they were not collaborative. He said he felt as though the organization was telling them what was going to happen rather than working with neighbouring communities to create the services.
Gin said he would like to see services expanded throughout the city and not solely in one or two areas of Calgary.Sandra Clarkson, executive director of the Drop-In Centre, said they take concerns around safety seriously and will continue to work with partners such as CPS and the DOAP team. She said they are listening to feedback and have committed to creating a “what we heard” section on their website.
Clarkson said expanding wraparound services isn’t going to be a magic bullet to solving disorder issues in the neighbourhood but that it would be a good first step to creating a pathway for individuals with complex issues and to address root causes contributing to those issues. “Communities should be welcoming these sites into their local areas,” said Thomson. “We don’t need to keep going through our own local verification processes to come to the same conclusions that the scientists have.”
Elitism and ignorance on full display. Presumptuous and arrogant.
'...research into how it will affect surrounding communities'? Pointless. The oversized, dehumanizing, corrupt Drop-in Centre has had a huge negative impact on the downtown area. It should be dismantled, not added to.
What? They want yyccc to consult with them? They obviously must be racist transphobe anti-vaxx white supremacists.
Lack of consultation? Say it’s not so. They were talking about locating these services in east village pre COVID. The consultation was trash then no surprise it hasn’t improved. yyccc desperately wants it there. So it will be regardless of residents objections.
There is no opioid crisis. This is 21st century natural selection. These ‘people’ are not worth expending and money or services on!
The West Beltline district sure wants to see the tent city residents sent back to the drop in centre.