Advocacy group looking to move city homeless to local beach

UPDATE: On Tuesday evening homeless advocacy officials have decided against the beach location as they consider it too small of an area for all the homeless in the area.  See the original story below: 

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A homeless advocacy group is looking to help bring the homeless to a new central location at Kinsmen Beach located on Main St. West on the shore of Lake Nipissing. 

Greg Gray, a member of Homeless Advocates of North Bay, says their group is trying to coordinate a homeless move from about 40 different locations around the city including a large encampment on Second Avenue near downtown North Bay, to a public beach. 

"We are trying to move the one from Second Avenue down to Kinsmen Beach and create a better park, create a better encampment from where they are," said Gray.  

"Right now it is in rough shape, it is not being looked after correctly and we are trying to bring them into a central area.

"There are probably as many as 150 people living in backyards, alleys, and woods in North Bay," Gray continued noting there are more encampments west of the city. 

Kevin Storie is homeless. He is looking to move from his camp behind Cash4You on Cassells Street. He says he has been there for close to a month now. 

"People are thinking outside the box, you know, because not all of us homeless are criminals, or addicts, or ones with mental illness, yet some of us, we all fall into the same category of homelessness,' explains Storie about his situation.  

"So it's instead of throwing money at those individual things, throw it at the one problem, the root problem, which is no shelter, no homeless."

While the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board has set up a low-barrier shelter and transitional housing on Chippewa Street, Gray says that model does not fit for some of the homeless and that is a problem. 

"We never bothered to involve them, we attempted to contact them seven or eight weeks ago and nobody responded so we did not bother dealing with them," said Gray. 

"This is a peer-driven process, we are looking for homeless people to look after themselves. They are not comfortable in the low-barrier shelter and that is why they are here. They have security guards running their lives. They are like little prison camps, they touch their privates with a wand. They treat girls and guys the same. There are no differentials, not good places to be."

Gray admits Kinsmen Beach may not be ideal, but it is a start. 

"The park may not be the permanent end, maybe the city can find us a better spot, not a parking lot. We want a place with water and shelter," said Gray.