'False promises' made by government, says resident of new shelter at former airport hotel

A resident of Newfoundland and Labrador's new transitional housing facility in a former airport hotel says she hasn't received the help she was promised and wants to leave. 

Kathy Lynn White says she hasn't received support at the former Comfort Inn since moving in on May 3. There's no income support, no support workers and no transportation, she said — only strict rules and isolation.

"I have to eat on time. I feel like I'm on parole," she said. 

White lived in a tent encampment at the Colonial Building in St. John's for four months. The camp's residents were recently removed and offered alternative housing by the province.

White, who has mental and physical disabilities, says she was told that if she moved to the Airport Road facility she would be offered the support she needed. 

Simone Lilly, End Homelessness's director of community investment, told CBC News they're still hiring staff and the facility isn't fully operational yet as a transitional housing site. 

But there are some support staff on site at all times, she added, and an outreach team and a harm reduction team from Newfoundland Labrador Health Services checks in daily.

Next week, she said, the facility will have eight core staff on site.

There are designated meal times for breakfast, lunch and dinner, she said, but End Homelessness is working on setting up more meal operations to ensure there is always food available. 

White says she feels isolated from her friends and family, despite being told she would be permitted to have visitors. She says her fiancé was placed in a different shelter and she has not been permitted to see him. 

"I'm alone. I feel dark. I have no one to talk to. I have people following me around. I don't know who they are."

Lilly says residents can come and go as they please but visitors are required to sign in and sign out for security reasons. Other than that, she said, there are no restrictions to the residents' activities. 

The provincial government made a three-year lease agreement to rent the facility for $6.9 million per year, and residents will have to sign leases with the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, which will determine the rental cost.

"From what we know it'll be deeply affordable," said Lilly.