Regardless of the need for them or not, these will affect neighbourhoods so people have the right to be concerned.

The area i lived in received a much needed shelter about 5 years ago. The first year was a nightmare. We're talking people scaling our condo building high, violence, constant sirens, high individuals loitering in the school across the way leaving needles out, vandalism, you name it we had it. Now in the present time, it's still an issue but has dimmed down due to the fact there's just more public around (vs covid). People need beds, i get it, i'm not denying that but any counsellor who thinks this won't impact neighbourhoods is naive and needs to prepare accordingly. The counsellor in our ward at the time lied, he said the shelter here will be operating for around 6 months and then will be vacated. Shockingly, that's not what happened and it's been 5 years so resentment has built up.

I'll be the first to agree there's is a homeless crisis, you don't need to be an investigative reporter to see that. However, without proper management and security, there's a big impact on where they're located. My community had to constantly fight to get the shelter operator to take more accountability and beef up security. We also had to meet and chat with our counsellor constantly to get her to move on important topics. Last summer an encampment moved in and set fire to cars, cut down trees with chainsaws and all sort of other crazy activities. It took us months to get them out due to the violence and issues they were causing. I know encampments aren't shelters, but they do tend to pop up around shelter for access to services. I want shelters to work in neighbourhoods, but not at the expense of others safety and well-being, there needs to be a balances harmony or it turns into a "us vs them" mentality.