Homeless have moved to Chesterfield Avenue area
A response to Robert Barron’s article about the fences and patrols and the wonderful job of cleaning up Lewis street.
Congratulations for driving the homeless and drug addicted off of Lewis Street.
Question, where did they all go?
As residents of Chesterfield Avenue, (a mere two blocks away), we can tell you where a lot of them have gone — into our front and back yards, into our neighbours’ yards and sheds, under the trees and hedges that line our beautiful neighbourhood.
Daily we carry a sharps container with us as we walk the kids to Alexander School.
We are both volunteer first responders with St. John Ambulance, and have been trained to deal with opioid overdoses as a part of our first aid duties at public events. We never expected to have to do so on our off-duty time, much less just after walking the kids to school and on the street we live on. Not just once. In the last three weeks, we have used three naloxone kits, and sadly, the trend seems to be continuing.
We see the shiny new bylaw enforcement truck roaming the streets, and the enforcement officers out on bikes, and still we pick up needles and condoms.
Maybe it was a good idea to “clean up” Lewis Street. Time will tell.
In the meantime, we will continue to search our yard and sheds daily before letting kids play outside, carry our naloxone kits with us, and have 911 on speed dial.
Chris and Donna Turner
Duncan