Tensions rise in Charlottetown neighbourhood after serious assault, issues at seniors' housing

Warning: This story contains details of an assault that some may find disturbing

A Charlottetown woman says she's afraid to go outside in the community where she grew up after an assault earlier this year — and she's not the only resident to voice concerns about the changing neighbourhood.

Kate Lee lives on Victory Avenue in downtown Charlottetown. A few blocks away sits the Community Outreach Centre, a provincial facility established in 2021 to help people without homes get access to services.

"The neighbourhood has really changed," said Lee. "I don't think the area can handle any more."

Lee says she was walking home at about 10 p.m. on May 7 when she saw three young women in a nearby parking lot, one of them kicking a car.

"I told her she was a twit," said Lee. "Her friends and her took offence to that."

Lee says the women followed her and pushed her down onto the sidewalk.

"[I] literally got my head kicked in. I had throttle marks around my neck," she said. "I was unconscious for a few hours. I'm not sure how many hours."

Lee went to the hospital for treatment the next day. Weeks later, she says she's still dealing with the aftereffects of the attack.

"I forget things," she said. "I don't like to go outside unless I have to. I get headaches. It's really hard to wash my face."

Lee can't definitively connect the young women who attacked her to the Outreach Centre, but she sees it as a symptom of how the neighbourhood has deteriorated since the centre opened.

"I don't know if some of them [the centre's clients] realize how much damage they're doing to the neighbourhood," she said. "I mean, needles lying around. There was a lady on Orlebar [Street], her dog brought in a bag of used needles, like a Ziploc baggie. It's just gross."

Charlottetown Police Services chief Brad MacConnell told CBC News nearby security cameras weren't any help but the investigation into Lee's assault continues.

However, he said, "We do not believe it was related to the Outreach Centre."