A man sleeping rough found his way into an apartment building in Dartmouth on Saturday night. He went down a staircase that landed on the top floor with his pillow, walker and cigarettes. Property manager Ursula Prossegger said she felt terrible for him, but had concerns about safety and fire hazards, so she called the police when he was discovered on Sunday morning. “He’s a thin, frail-looking older gentleman, and it breaks my heart to turn him out, but we’re not equipped to accommodate him in our building. And at the end of the day, our customers are our tenants and they pay, appreciate and also expect a certain amount of security,” he said. “So it’s a very tough playing field.” Prossegger said that as a property manager, she is well aware of how quickly a fire can start. “And how quickly it can spread and its effect on everyone, and to see this gentleman smoking and blowing it — he’s not doing it maliciously, it’s just who he is,” he said, adding that it’s also scary that if there was a fire, no one would know he was in the stairwell. Officers escorted him out of the building Sunday morning and left him on the curb, he said. They told her she “just needed a break” and then left. Prossegger said she does not blame the police. “Even if they took him, where are they going to take him? Like, honestly, where are you going to put him? All shelters are full, so they left him on the curb.” Const. John MacLeod, a spokesman for the Halifax Regional Police, confirmed that officers responded to the call at approximately 10 a.m. Sunday and that the man was escorted from the property without incident. But on Monday, it settled down again for the night in the same spot. In an interview Tuesday, Prossegger said she called police that morning and was under the impression it was up to her to escort him off the property if he wasn’t aggressive. A man who said his name was Scott was found sleeping in the stairwell of an apartment building in Dartmouth. After he was escorted a second time Tuesday morning, he sat briefly on the sidewalk. – Tim Kroczak He sat on the sidewalk outside the apartment building with his hood draped over his walker for a while Tuesday morning. He told The Chronicle Herald that his name was Scott and that he had been hit by a car in Florida a few months ago. He said he has money to get an apartment but can’t find any. He didn’t say much more before leaving the area.
Get on board and work together
Prossegger said there is a huge lack of services and support for people living hard in the community. He found that many tenants with mental health problems can only get help after they are evicted. People were found sleeping in the building’s rubbish bins, he said, and were only discovered when bins were lifted to be emptied. When she tries to ask for help, Prossegger said, she finds that the province tends to point the finger at the municipality and vice versa. “Can we please get on board and work together?” Prossegger said. Ursula Prossegger, property manager at Urchin Property Management, says there needs to be better co-ordination between levels of government to tackle the key issues of mental health and homelessness. – Eric Wynne
More wraparound supports are needed
Shawn Parker, a road navigator at Dartmouth, said there are more and more cases like these. Support workers and service providers are working hard to help everyone in need, but there’s only so much they can do, she said. “Many of us here providing the service are doing the best we can at the moment. It all comes down to a roof over their head,” Parker said. As of Sept. 27, the Affordable Housing Association reported there are 697 people in Halifax experiencing homelessness. There are waiting lists at shelters with wrap-around services where someone who is homeless can find a place to stay while also receiving support for health and addictions. There are modular units in Dartmouth and Halifax operated by Out of the Cold and the Overlook, which Parker said will hopefully open in November. “We have a lot of people who sleep rough. . . who refuse to go to the shelters for one reason or another. Most of them will tell you they feel safer outside, and again, shelters don’t provide that wrap service, it’s just a place to lay your head,” Parker said. More options for comprehensive care and support for the homeless are needed, she said. When asked if Prossegger thinks she’ll see Scott again, she said “probably.” He said it’s not a rare occurrence for property managers, and he expects it to happen more often, especially as winter approaches. Ursula Prossegger in the stairwell of the Dartmouth apartment building where a stray man was found sleeping Tuesday morning. The area has been thoroughly cleaned but still reeks of smoke Tuesday afternoon. – Eric Wynne
