It overwhelmed the energy of the volunteers, who had no professionals on site to back them up. That situation ended after drug addictions and violent behaviours both intensified in a minority of the guests. Volunteers offered meals and set up bedding. Years ago, the Out Of the Cold program was set up to use local churches in the core areas as temporary sleeping stops for those who couldn't go to a shelter. Until now, there has always been some kind of refuge in the bitter winter months. In fact, there isn't anywhere else for homeless people to go.
"Where are the guys going to go?" she said. Green was ordered to vacate a week before Christmas. Meanwhile, other businesses have complained about loitering, garbage, and rocks thrown at delivery trucks in the area, she stated. There are no hours of business posted at the store. People go in and out showing no signs of buying anything. "Since the fall of 2018, the Tenant, has allowed, increasingly, Vagrants to use the premises as a club house," Friedrich said. However, court documents from last fall detail the landlord's complaint. The landlord is a numbered company that also owns neighbouring properties between King and Duke streets, such as Slices restaurant and the Money Mart.Ĭalls and emails to Mary Ann Friedrich, assistant administrator and property manager for the landlord, were not immediately returned on Wednesday.
They didn't just drop from the sky."įor the past few months, Green has been fighting her eviction in court. "These people came from somewhere," she said. Green sees this action as part of a larger movement to push homeless people out of downtown Kitchener as it gentrifies. "If it wasn't for her, I don't know where I would have slept last night." "I've been sleeping outside in parked cars," he said. He isn't welcome at local shelters because of conflicts with other residents. Green isn't sure what will happen then to the people who have treated her store like a home. They give her hugs and call her "Mama" and "Pearl," and "the mother I should have had."īut all this will be over on Friday, when Green says the sheriff is scheduled to come and evict her from the property. These tough men and women of the street adore Green. They won't have to pay until their cheque comes later in the month.
But Green's guests can buy potato chips, cold pop and hot coffee, and put it on their tab. The chairs and pool table mean there isn't much room for merchandise. They can sleep on the floor at night if they have nowhere else to go. They can use the bathroom or the telephone. They can play a game of pool or sit around and chat. They've been welcome to enjoy the free food that people and businesses send over. For more than five years, Udanapher (Nadine) Green has welcomed more than 100 homeless people into her convenience store on Water Street in downtown Kitchener.
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