King Street Emergency Shelter - May 30, 2024 Update

In response to community feedback received at the King Street Shelter neighbourhood meeting we held on Thursday, May 23, 2024, I would like to provide an update on the changes we are introducing.

Increasing security:

We have increased the presence of security during the overnight hours. Patrols by the City of Kitchener bylaw and Waterloo Region Police Service (WRPS) will continue.

Increasing staffing:

We will increase staffing, including: more staff to patrol, outreach workers to support individuals, health care support onsite and more staff to handle the phone lines.

Increasing needle and drug paraphernalia sweeps:

We have asked the Working to Improve Neighbourhood Safety (WINS) program, security staff and the City of Kitchener to increase their needle pick-ups in the area and track what is collected for reporting purposes.

Creating a new Community Advisory Committee:

We are creating a new Community Advisory Committee, working with the neighbourhood on what the committee looks like and how it operates. We will also host more frequent community meetings. The next community meeting will be on Thursday, June 20 at 7 p.m. at the Rockway Centre. More details will be posted on the Engage WR site in the coming weeks. Both of these efforts will be led and coordinated by Regional staff.

Improving shelter programming:

Shelter activities will be expanded during the day, facilitated by The Working Centre, to provide more programming and support to individuals throughout the day. Shade structures will be added to the side of the building to reduce loitering on King Street.

Exploring streamlined response:

We are looking at improving the response and escalation process to address community concerns.

Examining the implementation of a curfew:

We are working through the pros and cons of a curfew. We will provide more updates on a decision on a curfew in the coming weeks.

Some of these changes are already happening, like increased security and starting the community advisory board. Some changes will occur as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Peter Sweeney