The on-the-land camp out on the Ingraham Trail is being closed by the GNWT.
The announcement was made on Wednesday afternoon through a press release with the main reason being a move to focus on "the development of sustainable, long-term housing solutions."
Contractors have been working to take down the equipment at the site and, according to the lease agreement between the site owners and the GNWT, the operator of the camp, NWT Integration and Community Services (NWTICS), must have the site must be back to its original state by end of day Friday. Those who were living at the camp were brought back to the city on Tuesday.
The camp site was Camp Connections, which is owned by the NWT Foster Family Coalition.
While the camp was open, the GNWT stated that the number of residents ranged between six to 20 with capacity for up to 30 people at one time. When SA国际影视传媒 paid a visit to the camp last month, 16 people were staying there.
The camp is being hailed as a success by Executive and Indigenous Affairs Minister R.J. Simpson, who stated that the camp was a successful intervention.
"(It provided) a stable and secure environment with access to culturally relevant programming and wellness opportunities," he was quoted as saying.
Counselling was available on-site along with 24/7 medical services courtesy of 62 North. Culturally-relevant activities were also part of the camp's services. Those who wanted to attend the camp had to apply in advance and had to be sober for at least three days in advance before
SA国际影视传媒 spoke with Robert Tordiff, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, on Thursday morning about the department's overall thoughts.
He said when it comes to providing the continuing services in the city for those who need them, there are multiple resources available.
"Our integrated services delivery team is out there working with those who have individual plans," he said. "There are resources in the city and for those people who made the decision to attend the camp, we'll continue to link them to those services for them to maintain sobriety."
The camp was opened in response to what was thought to be a pending shortage of spaces for homeless people as winter approached, but as it turned out, said Tordiff, the difference between the amount of spaces and those staying at the camp was extremely small.
"It was a difference of one," he said. "We have enough space right now and the anticipated shortage didn't happen. The camp was designed to be an alternative to provide another option and we were monitoring shelter usage."
As for those long-term housing solutions, Tordiff said the move is toward more traditional housing.
"We already have several operators who provide housing and there are also several private undertakings," he said. "Housing NWT is going through its inventory on a regular basis and we're implementing our homelessness strategy as well. Our goal is to move people beyond living in shelters and into stable accommodations."
The estimated cost to operate the camp was $642,000 with almost all of the money, save for $7,000 from the GNWT, coming from the federal government.
Tordiff said so long as NWTICS is paying whatever and whoever needs to be paid, he expects all the funding will be used.
Those who stayed at the camp seemed to enjoy the experience while they were there.
Louis Mutaradlaluk said he liked being able to do simple things such as chopping wood and hoped the camp would last longer, while Tiffany Jennifer Thrasher SA国际影视传媒� another resident at the camp who also mentioned struggling with addictions SA国际影视传媒� expressed total support for the program to be extended.
She also encouraged Simpson to put as much funding as he can into programs like this.
"Don't clump it together," she advised. "Don't make one camp some luxury resort, keep it rugged. Keep it real, and I would say 'smarten up' because you don't know what it's like to be on the streets. You don't know what it's like to be an addict. You don't know what it's like to have your home taken from you."
Whether there will be something like this again isn't a guarantee, according to Tordiff, but he did say that the department will take what they learned and and apply the findings to future projects.
"The interest is to build services that meet the needs of those who need it, but we probably wouldn't look at a similar camp like this one," he said. "We know that there are people who want to live a life of sobriety and there are people who don't want to spend their life in the downtown core. We saw the value of what it means for people to be on the land."
