The Hood: Tents in Fredericton hope to shine light on homelessness
FREDERICTON
On this brisk November day, Frederictonians may be contemplating trading in the fall coats and sweaters for something a little warmer. But for Fredericton’s homeless people, a winter jacket just won’t cut it. About a 5 minute walk from downtown, tucked away on the corner of Smythe and Woodstock Street sits 8 tents, inhabited by Fredericton’s homeless that either cannot find room in or have been banned in the shelters.
James Oickle, to most along this strip is known as the mayor, reflected on how the storm on the evening of November 3rd effected one resident.
“You’re dealing with somebody we were just looking at in the tent here who definitely suffers from some kind of mental illness, we all seem to agree that it’s just a man who’s just given up on life, but he slept in that cold last night soaking wet man, he laid on the ground I got blankets for him, I got sleeping bags I gave him everything that he needed yet he didn’t even have the will to get up.”
The tents offer shelter to the residents but with strong gusts of wind, the tarps often come undone and the tents even blow into the streets. Oickle is hoping that tents bring attention to the issue.
“I don’t like seeing it build up I was kind of hoping by the snow time since we started this 150 days ago that we would quietly a message out there, that let’s expand the shelter.” Says Oickle.
Although the housing issue has not been solved, attention has certainly been brought to the issue since speaking with Oickle and residents on November 4th. Larger media outlets such as the CBC, Global News and The Telegraph Journal have been reporting on the problem.
Samuel Blackmore, Saint Thomas University Journalism
