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Businesses along Enterprise Way affected by homeless population

sa国际传媒楰elowna is in desperate need of more supportive housing,sa国际传媒 John Howard Society director says
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Remnants of homeless camp are left behind some trees off of Enterprise Way. (Michael Rodriguez / sa国际传媒)

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.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a few that stop by and always look around,sa国际传媒 said Jack Nemeth, owner of McScoots Motorcycle and Scooter Rentals, who has attributed a stolen scooter to the homeless population in the area.

sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e around for sure,sa国际传媒 he said. sa国际传媒淭hey always seem to be going through the parking lot at some point during the day. I cansa国际传媒檛 afford to be having this.sa国际传媒

Nemeth said itsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渘ot just mesa国际传媒 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.

sa国际传媒(Enterprise Way has) always been an area where theresa国际传媒檚 a lot of transient populations and homeless camps. Isa国际传媒檓 curious why all of a sudden theresa国际传媒檚 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.sa国际传媒

Moretto added that this is also a sign of a more significant issue within Kelowna.

sa国际传媒淚t shows that Kelowna is in desperate need of more supportive housing, so people donsa国际传媒檛 have to camp out in the area. Theysa国际传媒檙e not to be seen as an issue or a problem,sa国际传媒 Moretto said.sa国际传媒漈reating people as humans would go a long way. Mutual respect is very important. If yousa国际传媒檙e going to approach someone and not be friendly to them because you see them as an issue, they may respond in kind.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 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,sa国际传媒 Moretto added. sa国际传媒淗opefully, we can be supportive to all of our neighbours regardless of whether or not they have housing.sa国际传媒

More information on the John Howard Society of British Columbia can be found


Michael Rodriguez
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