'We need to do better:' Resident raises concerns about Cathedral shelter in Hamilton

Brenda Hind says since she started living in the shelter at the old Cathedral School in Hamilton's Stinson neighbourhood, she has seen asbestos, mice and bed bugs.

"It feels really terrible ... we need to do better," the 55-year-old told reporters on Wednesday morning.

"I'm hoping this building will be condemned and no one should be living in there."

Hind stood outside the building alongside the Hamilton Encampment Support Network (HESN), the Hamilton Centre For Civic Inclusion and a doctor from the Hamilton Social Medicine Response Team (HamSmart) to bring awareness to what Hind called "dangerous conditions."

They called on the city and shelter providers to establish standards for shelters and to introduce safe drug consumption spaces there.

They also had a series of demands around what they say are terrible living conditions at Cathedral.

Good Shepherd began operating a temporary overflow men's shelter the old Cathedral School since July 2020. The pandemic, officials have said, has put larger pressures put on the local shelter system.

On March 1, the Cathedral school space became a temporary shelter for women, trans-feminine, trans-masculine and non-binary adults.

City spokesperson Aisling Higgins said the shelter has 58 residents, with as many as six people to a room, and has been slowly ramping up to accommodate up to 80 to 100 beds if needed. COVID precautions are followed, Higgins said.

Capacity issues across the shelter network have alleviated since the Cathedral shelter has become a women-only space, Higgins said. It's created temporary shelter spaces in the men's system, and allowed workers to focus on housing placements.

Hind said there's been a lack of clean drinking water at Cathedral, as well as no internet access, insufficient ventilation and insufficient heating. It's also too crowded, she said.

"These conditions are horrific to live," she told reporters.

For its part, the city said it's taking the complaints "very seriously" and responding to them.

"Staff are working with Good Shepherd to investigate and review operational details and these concerns," Higgins said in an email.