Following the service on February 18th gather in Fellowship Hall with other concerned members of the congregation to share your thoughts about the Encampment Policy and Protocols at our church.
In November, a man was encamped on our property and the difficult decision was made to ask him to leave. This is a difficult position for us. Our Social Justice group has advocated for government investments that would ultimately solve the encampment and homelessness crisis and significantly increase the net supply of affordable homes. We actively support the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters as a temporary and better alternative to tents, with cabins, staff and services. But our property is not a place for tents. To allow them would amount to taking responsibility for those living there—it would be like operating a shelter—and we are not capable of doing that. We have also had problems with vandalism, needles and human waste, and a fire set at our gas intake, some of those things done by people experiencing homelessness. How can we be in a better relationship with our unhoused neighbours as well as our own congregants with this concern?