Gray area situations don’t come with clear-cut, black and white solutions.
Such is the case surrounding Stepping Stone Shelter for the Homeless. Though it tends to be cast as the Town of Greater Napanee attempting to shutdown a charitable man trying to house the homeless, it’s not quite that simple.
From a public relations standpoint, the town is in a no-win situation. On social media in particular, there’s a growing sense that the town is creating red tape in an attempt to shut down the operation with no regard for the tenants who would be forced to sleep on the street.
Again, not that simple. If it were to simply ignore its zoning laws, the town could be held responsible if anything should happen on that site. It would also open the door to any other landowner who wanted to do the same-if Stepping Stone were allowed to continue on a plot of land less than two acres, what’s to stop anyone else from placing trailers in their backyard and collecting rent?
Scott Drader, Stepping Stone’s owner, may not have gone about it the best way by circumventing the rules. But there’s no denying the fact he’s providing an important service, offering shelter for well below market value while helping to get people’s lives back on track.
Mayor Marg Isbester deserves recognition for meeting with protestors outside of town hall on Nov. 25. She met with the group knowing there would likely be people there who have written nasty, untrue personal things about her and her family online-which aside from being disrespectful, is completely unhelpful in finding a solution. Like a politician or not, personal attacks should have no place in any discussion.
Regardless of what gets said online or in a council chamber, at the heart of the issue are a dozen or so human beings who want a safe place to sleep. Having a roof overhead is taken for granted by so many and now that the calendar has flipped to December, the harsh winter weather has arrived. As everyone involved seems to agree, the trailers are far from ideal, but they are better than living on the street.
Ideally a compromise can be worked out that will see as many people as possible safely housed through the winter and beyond. For all the debate around the trailers, everyone involved agrees they are a Band-Aid solution to a much bigger problem.
Anything less than a year-round shelter that offers counselling services for those that need it is going to be a temporary, unsustainable fix. Getting to that point however isn’t as simple as many would like to believe.