Inside Cobourg’s encampment struggles: how shelter issues and service failures impact the town

Returning to the once-quiet small town of Cobourg, Ontario, located about 100 km east of Toronto along the 401 corridor, it has been a year since an encampment established itself at the former Brookside Youth Detention Centre.

In recent months the site, owned by Infrastructure Ontario, became fully fenced and monitored with taxpayer-funded security and is equipped with waste disposal, hand-washing stations and outhouses.

Residents and observers have noted a monopoly on shelter and homeless outreach services by Northumberland County and its partnership
with Transition House, a low-barrier shelter charity. This partnership has led to the consolidation and expansion of services at a new location at 310 Division Street, acquired in a rushed, sole-sourced contract for $2.3 million last December.

Radical harm reduction and safe supply advocacy groups (such as Moms Stop the Harms and Greenwood Coalition) have increasingly influenced the area, contributing to the ongoing harm, as evidenced by a recent alert from the local health unit following a series of overdoses.

This stands in sharp contrast to the report last week, which highlighted a 55% reduction in opioid-related deaths in Alberta for May, with its recovery- and treatment-focused approach.

With two elementary schools and a high school located within a few kilometres of the encampment, and the low-barrier shelter located within a residential neighbourhood with another elementary school just a block away, tensions and frustrations in Cobourg are understandably high.

One resident shares that the location of the low-barrier shelter is not ideal. “We’re going to lose business, we’re going to see needles on the ground,” she said. “I’ve lived here six years, and I used to be able to walk at midnight and never have to worry. Now, as soon as it gets dark, I can’t walk this way.”

“The neighbours will hate it,” adds another, stating “They ruin everything… It’s a balance between helping them and making them worse.”

When questioned about the “compassionate” language used by advocates regarding the encampment, harm reduction and safe supply, another local argued that despite the rhetoric, the ongoing suffering suggests a lack of genuine concern for true compassion.

Speaking with encampment residents, there is a surface belief that the opening of 310 Division will be helpful, but an almost unequivocal disdain for the delivery of services as it exists currently through Transition House.

Security, safety and stability are top of mind for one encampment resident who said, “It’s really hard to get a job when you don’t know if you’re going to have a shower, sleep all night or get your tent lit on fire.”

A lack of professionalism at Transition House — accused of playing favourites, hiring young and inexperienced staff and arbitrarily enforcing the supposed rules — resonates with others in the encampment.

“They pick and choose who they want in there,” shared another person in the encampment. “You look at them the wrong way and they kick you out, if you’re one minute late they kick you out.”

Another accused the homelessness case manager at Northumberland Hills Hospital, Morgan Emerson, of “not doing her job.”

Overall, the feedback indicates a lack of cohesion among service providers and suggests that those claiming to fund or offer outreach services are often only paying lip service, leaving everyone frustrated and disillusioned.

Cobourg town councillor Adam Bureau expressed his belief that “everyone should have a home” but opposed “people living illegally.”

While he noted that the new low-barrier shelter is expected to alleviate some of the strain from the encampment on community resources, he was unaware of the opening timeframe, a cohesive plan between Northumberland County and the town of Cobourg, or when residents might receive updates.

As British Columbia walks back its decriminalization pilot project and the oxymoronic reality of safe supply ideologies continues to create chaos on the streets, the struggle with inadequate shelter solutions and disjointed service delivery underscores the urgent need for a coherent, cohesive approach that genuinely addresses the needs of both residents and those living homeless.