The homeless situation in North Bay took a unique turn this weekend when tents were popping up in and around North Bay City Hall.
It's symbolic of a growing problem in the Gateway City.
Dave Mendicino is the chair of Nipissing District Housing Corporation and a board member with the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB).
He's upset to find out one particular person camped in front of city hall got a free bus ticket from her Toronto area social worker to come to North Bay.
"You have the city and all these agencies doing such great work, along with the province; we are all working together and we are all working hard to address the complex needs of these individuals in our district. But the keywords here are 'in our district,'" stated Mendicino.
Shane Moyer, a homeless advocate who is now homeless himself claims the growing homeless population is up to 120 at last count.
See related: Homeless pitch tents City Hall's front yard to advocate for change
Dennis Chippa, Executive Director of the Gathering Place soup kitchen, is not surprised at those numbers and he has seen new people arriving and needing free meals.
"Our numbers are incredibly high already and I'd say within the past 10 days we have seen a dozen new faces with five new ones just today," Chippa told BayToday Monday afternoon.
The low barrier shelter at Pete Palangio arena was closed in August and replaced currently by a 12-bed low barrier shelter on Chippewa Street. As well, a new 16-bed transitional housing facility next to the low barrier shelter is not open yet.
Mendicino admits that they need to find more solutions but adding to the population from outside the district is not one of them.
"We are being proactive in dealing with this," he said.
"The Mayor's roundtable is an example of that. When a social worker from southern Ontario gives a client a one-way ticket to North Bay and ends up at our city hall that's not right. How did that social worker do what's best for her client?"
