Man found dead in Edmonton building where Hope Mission runs temporary homeless shelter
CBC
A man was found dead inside a Hope Mission facility earlier this week, but the body may have been there for longer.
A person who was allegedly staying at the Spectrum building, where the mission runs a temporary shelter, found the body at the facility on Oct. 18.
"Our hearts go out to everyone who knew, cared for and loved this man," said Lauren Reid, Hope Mission community liason.
"We are doing everything we can to support staff at this time, as well as the person who discovered [the deceased]. It is equally heartbreaking for all of them."
The mission is investigating how this occurred so it can prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, Reid said.
The Edmonton Police Service was notified. The death is being treated as non-criminal, so police are unable to provide further information, a spokesperson told CBC News.
Reid says the man passed away from a "currently unknown medical problem."
Hope Mission opened a 24-7 shelter at Commonwealth Stadium last November to create more space for people who, because of COVID-19 public health measures, could not fit into the shelter downtown.
The shelter was moved to the Spectrum building last spring.
The building, located on the former site of the Northlands Park Racetrack & Casino, was not designed to be a shelter, Reid said, noting that it's a large facility with multiple stories.
Prior to moving in, mission staff walked through the building with City of Edmonton facility maintenance staff, police and firefighters, among other groups, to ensure the site was safe, said Tim Pasma, Hope Mission manager of homeless programming.
The mission installed fencing and plywood to block off certain areas so people using the shelter cannot access them, Pasma said.
"We always knew that the space is not optimally designed as a shelter," he said. "But we did do as much as we felt like we could at the time to ensure that it was safe."
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