Homelessness
This one will be quite long, but it’s what I consider one of the most pressing issues facing our city right now. Medicine Hat is one of many communities that participates in and publishes a Point in Time (PiT) Count. The first count was September of 2022, which found 120 individuals experiencing homelessness, and the second was October 10, 2024, finding 104 individuals. More information on the PiT can be found here: https://mhchs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Point-In-Time-2024-Report.pdf
Currently, Medicine Hat has three (3) shelters: The Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society, a 30-bed shelter that serves adults and children experiencing family violence, The Mustard Seed Shelter, a 30-bed shelter that serves adults, and McMan Roots Shelter, a six-bed shelter that serves youth (under 18). Given that the available number of beds is outnumbered by the consistently unhoused people in our community, it’s obvious that our shelter space is woefully inaccurate.
The Mustard Seed has sought in multiple ways to address the lack of shelter space, proposing a development that would add 20 beds, which was ultimately denied by the Municipal Planning Commission. As recently as December / early January, one of our local MLAs, as well as the Mayor, and Social services Minister Jason Nixon deemed that the Mustard seed’s shelter location was “not ideal” and are apparently exploring a more fitting location (https://chatnewstoday.ca/2025/01/03/mustard-seed-locations-not-ideal-city-of-medicine-hat-alberta-government-say-in-joint-statement/). It’s disappointing – to say the least – that the apparent solution appears to be NIMBY-ism and moving shelter services out of town or to an area that isn’t traditionally “residential”. These services should be in the areas where people are, not in areas that require cumbersome or impossible travel. I’ll note that our current transit system doesn’t cover most of the primarily commercial / light industrial areas which are commonly proposed as more “fitting” sites. We desperately need to frame this conversation starting with human dignity and fundamental rights. No-one should have to sleep in a park, eat from a dumpster, or relieve themselves in an alley because there is quite literally nowhere for them to go. How that basic tenet is controversial or up for debate is beyond me.
https://theseed.ca/MedicineHat
Beginning in June of 2023, Medicine Hat Community Housing Society (MHCHS), in partnership with the City of Medicine Hat, embarked on a series of community summits intended to identify current challenges experienced in the community. The first summit identified several concerns, including but not limited to: a decline of relationships with landlords in the private rental market, difficulty in operating businesses in the downtown core, fear of engagement with individuals experiencing homelessness, and lack of 24/7 and non-business access to washroom and shower facilities. (https://mhchs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2024-25-SDP-Medicine-Hat-Community-Housing-Society.pdf). As of writing this, there has been no further movement - to my knowledge - on any kind of proposal or solution.
I would be remiss not to mention Medicine Hat Family Services in this context. I am working on meeting with the Executive Director in the next week or so to get a more fulsome understanding of their services. That said, my understanding is that they offer very affordable counselling and other wrap-around services to families. It’s important to remember that homelessness, addiction, and mental health issues don’t occur in silos, and these kinds of organizations can have huge impacts on reducing risk factors in our community. More info on MHFS can be found here:
https://www.mhfamilyservice.com/
I’m trying hard to keep to a central point, but I feel like there is so much background needed to even begin a discussion around homelessness. It’s wrapped up heavily in addiction and mental health, although obviously not every person experiencing homelessness has addiction and mental health issues, and vice-versa. Public perception and stigma are also huge problems, as outlined above and in the previous blog. I spend the vast majority of my time in the downtown core, and encounter a lot of the same folks living rough. For the most part, they’re perfectly nice people, just trying to get through their days. They’ve formed their own version of a community, although quite a bit different from “our” community. They lean on each other and help each other out. I fully understand that some people living rough and experiencing homelessness commit petty crimes and can be destructive to property and vehicles. But honestly, I think the stigma and assumptions about these folks greatly outweigh the crimes they actually commit.
In at least 3 separate recent instances, the City has bowed to public pressure and either made or altered a decision because of outcry by local business owners and residents. In June 2022, public outcry caused The Mustard Seed to rescind an application for a sober living centre. They then submitted a different plan and application in April of 2023, which was first accepted by the Municipal Planning Commission, but then denied after more public outcry. The third was more recent in January of 2025, where an extremely heated public meeting ultimately led to the City forcing the closure of The Mustard Seed’s Allowance Avenue location. So, despite MLA Wright’s and City Admin’s apparent plan to find an appropriate location for an Oxford-model all-in-one shelter facility, I’m cynical at best. It seems that no matter where this magical location is, people are going to petition against it, and the City is going to capitulate.
We need to remember that these are humans deserving of dignity and compassion. Despite whatever problems they can create, the way that they are talked about at public forums and in social media is, frankly, disgusting. The capability of otherwise reasonable people to use words like “vermin”, “scum”, “vile”, and to talk about “going to war” over the issue is completely inappropriate. It’s unhelpful to the discussion, and it makes it difficult to believe these folks are acting in good faith. While I fully understand that homelessness can bring some undesirable consequences, I firmly believe that a housing-first approach is the only way to move forward. When this cohort has somewhere to go, they are far less likely to cause as many problems in the broader community.
Talk soon,
— Adam
