A sign put up at the Kingston Avenue proposed shelter site in Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Bonnie McBride
December 01, 2021 - 5:30 PM
A Kamloops resident and business owner has put up a sign promoting peace on a site where an act of violence occurred yesterday.
The property on Kingston Avenue has been designated by B.C. Housing as a location for a shelter for the homeless, and some residents of the neighbourhood are not happy with that decision.
Nate Moats tore down an anti-homeless poster yesterday, Nov. 30, from the fencing around the site that called on people to “defend yourselves” and to “fight” B.C. Housing, Kamloops city council and the Canadian Mental Health Association. Moats was approached by an unidentified man and punched in the face, which resulted in a broken nose.
READ MORE: Kamloops man assaulted for removing anti-homeless sign
Bonnie McBride lives and works on Kamloops's North Shore, where there's been ongoing friction between some residents, business owners and the homeless population. She said she was horrified by the violent act.
“We have a store right in that neighbourhood and we want that shelter to be built because currently that site is being used as a bathroom and garbage dump by the homeless,” she said. “We are in favour of this shelter going up. They are already here, sleeping under the bridge and giving them no place to be is not going to change anything.”
McBride went to the proposed site and hung up a new sign today. Her sign reads, “welcome to the neighbourhood,” and “this neighbourhood is diverse, inclusive and rich with great people and places."
“We can’t ask homeless people to do better without offering them any help and housing is the first step," McBride said.
"It wouldn’t bother me if this site was three blocks from my house, we all need more housing. Until we do a better job of getting multi-unit housing we are going to need to provide shelter for all walks of life, not let people freeze to death."
McBride hopes her poster brings some peace to the socially uneasy situation.
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