Dealing with mental health and addiction issues in North Bay’s downtown may come down to a “boots on the ground” approach.
The Downtown Investment Advisory Committee comprised of various community partners including downtown property owners, together with mental health providers has been looking into a pilot project that has had success in Guelph.
“They hired a mental health and addiction worker, boots to the ground, to patrol the downtown. That was her job, and after three months she had 450 interactions with different individuals,” explained city councillor Dave Mendicino.
He said the worker was able to de-escalate 80 per cent of the interactions she encountered.
“It brought a sense of calm into the downtown because this individual was able to identify and relate to the individuals and assist them. The business owners really loved it, lots of great feedback from the business owners because they now had a resource right at the ready in the downtown.”
Mendicino says that it is just one step in moving forward.
“We know that there are issues in the downtown, health and addiction issues. I hear it from the owner’s every day. They’re frustrated, and they just want some help. The message is, help is coming. It is not going to happen overnight, but we know there are issues there and we know they need to be addressed.”
He acknowledges it will take a team approach.
“We need the police, we need the Chamber of Commerce, we need all the mental health and addiction providers to really band together which we have been doing for a number of months now. And I’m very hopeful that very, very shortly we’ll be able to announce something where we’re going to have a mental health and addiction worker in the downtown,” said the city councillor.”
“This is something where you’ve got an individual that is in the downtown and they are on the street, whether they are in distress or they need some assistance or they only need somebody to talk to, that is what it is all about.”
While he would personally have no problem bringing people to the downtown, he realizes not everyone is of the same mindset.
“I understand why somebody might not want to. I’ve seen circumstances in the downtown where mothers have children and they encounter someone and they are afraid,” said Mendicino.
“More often than not, these individuals are not dangerous. But you know what? It is not their fault. These are individuals that have mental health and addiction issues and they need resources where they can be helped. I think that is part of the issue as well.”
On the crime front, businesses continue to deal with break-ins and vandalism.
The most recent case was a break-in at Pearl’s, the third in roughly seven months.
See related: Jewellery store owner frustrated with yet another break-in
“The issue about the break-ins, that is obviously a police matter. That is also something that is going to need to be dealt with,” said Mendicino.
Mayor Al McDonald says city council is committed to finding solutions to the on-going challenges in the downtown core.
“I know the North Bay police have people walking the beat in the downtown core. But there is no question we are disappointed in the break-ins that happened at Pearl’s and any other business. We’re actively looking at everything we can do from a council perspective to make our city as safe as it can be,” said the mayor.
“There are cameras in the downtown that cover the whole downtown core, but to be honest, we run into privacy issues too. It took a while to get the camera’s down there just because of the privacy issues, and we did have citizens that did not want the cameras in the downtown core.”
Mendicino points out the problems being experienced in the downtown are not unique to North Bay.
‘They’re in every downtown all over Canada. But there are issues that need to be dealt with on the mental health and addictions side,” said Mendicino.
“I’m confident that we’re going to turn this thing around. We have to turn this thing around. Council is committed to growing the city but when your core is not healthy, we have to do something about that. That is something that needs our attention and we’re going to address it.”
