A local housing advocate is very concerned about the pending closure of Horizons 106 and where it will leave vulnerable people living in the community.

The provincial government will not be renewing the lease on the former hotel, citing poor planning and an AG report that highlighted the $240,000 per person cost of providing wraparound services at the transitional housing facility converted from a former hotel.

Doug Pawson of End Homelessness St. John’s says the recent closure of 91 Brazil Street is an example of the difficulties facing some people in the community. Pawson says it was well known that the risks at the building went beyond structural concerns and many front-line workers were instructed not to enter the building.

His fear is that vulnerable people who are prone to being exploited by the criminal element will be put at greater risk living in the community.

“So incorporating housing and supports on-site in a dedicated building (like Horizons 106) with that support kept them safe. That model is now being taken away, and so now folks are going to be transitioning with a phone call, or a text, or a knock on the door, one to three (or) five times a week, those folks are sitting ducks essentially for some of the criminal element…that were operating Brazil Street.”

He says when a building like that closes “that problem doesn’t stop, it just shifts and disperses around the city. So I worry for their safety in the long run, and the front-line staff who are going to be tasked to support them in their housing.”