Businesses along Enterprise Way have long been affected by homeless populations of the area.
But according to some business owners, it has reached a breaking point.
乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 a few that stop by and always look around,乌鸦传媒� said Jack Nemeth, owner of McScoots Motorcycle and Scooter Rentals, who has attributed a stolen scooter to the homeless population in the area.
乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檙e around for sure,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭hey always seem to be going through the parking lot at some point during the day. I can乌鸦传媒檛 afford to be having this.乌鸦传媒�
Nemeth said it乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒渘ot just me乌鸦传媒� complaining about the transient population of the area either, following various reports of other businesses in the area being affected.
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Dani Moretto, director of Housing First with the John Howard Society of British Columbia, said businesses need to be a little more compassionate when dealing with homeless people.
乌鸦传媒�(Enterprise Way has) always been an area where there乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of transient populations and homeless camps. I乌鸦传媒檓 curious why all of a sudden there乌鸦传媒檚 so much attention on it. It seems like after the floods, the city spent a lot of time clearing out the area and now people are more visible because there are fewer places to hide.乌鸦传媒�
Moretto added that this is also a sign of a more significant issue within Kelowna.
乌鸦传媒淚t shows that Kelowna is in desperate need of more supportive housing, so people don乌鸦传媒檛 have to camp out in the area. They乌鸦传媒檙e not to be seen as an issue or a problem,乌鸦传媒� Moretto said.乌鸦传媒漈reating people as humans would go a long way. Mutual respect is very important. If you乌鸦传媒檙e going to approach someone and not be friendly to them because you see them as an issue, they may respond in kind.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 hopeful that as more supportive housing is built in the city, and more services are created and reaching out to folks that need them that these kinds of issues will decrease,乌鸦传媒� Moretto added. 乌鸦传媒淗opefully, we can be supportive to all of our neighbours regardless of whether or not they have housing.乌鸦传媒�
More information on the John Howard Society of British Columbia can be found
