Mustard Seed says initiative has to come from community before any possible return to city
By Tim Kalinowski on May 13, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com Nearly two months after having its sober shelter quashed by city council, the Mustard Seed says it has no immediate plans to return to Lethbridge unless conditions on the ground change.“Once burnt, twice shy,” says Mustard Seed CEO Stephen Wile. “To be really honest, we have stayed in contact with city hall, with some potential partners in Lethbridge, as well as community church leaders just to keep the lines of communication open more than anything else. We certainly haven’t been proposing anything, and, to be honest, we are at a stage where the initiative will have to come from the community not from us in the future.”
When asked what he thinks led to city council’s rejection of his organization’s service within the community, Wile says there were various factors at play- including impending municipal elections.
“Let’s face it; city council is a political entity, and there is always the pressure to get re-elected, if you want to get re-elected, and sometimes those who are experiencing homelessness and poverty don’t always get the commitment that other groups like business groups might get; especially during an election year,” he states.
Wile also acknowledged the “angst” in the community leftover from previous social initiatives.
“I think in some ways the well has been poisoned because of past initiatives,” he admits, “and people coming in and trying to create solutions are just painted with brush of past, failed, social action.”
The need in the community for a sober (dry) shelter is clear and becoming more pressing each day, says Wile.
“The need has only grown,” Wile states, “and it is amazing to me the community of Lethbridge has not recognized how significant the need is in their city. Some of the things that were complained about at city council, we would actually have helped solve some of those issues. You realize Lethbridge is the only city of this size in the province that does not have a dry shelter as well as a wet shelter? And it is needed.
“We do want to be in Lethbridge,” he adds. “We do want to support the most vulnerable in the city. We believe it is a need. It’s not just our calling, it’s our passion to meet people in need and provide solutions for them. We see a lot of need in Lethbridge, and it’s not going to go away, and it is not going to get better, until we have organizations like ours and others that can be in there and help provide solutions.”
Wile does not know when the Mustard Seed may be able to come to Lethbridge at this point, he admits. He says part of the frustration for his organization is it spent over $100,000 of donor money to try to set up this essential service in the community, but kept being told by City staff, whenever it proposed a location, it would not work. It came to the point, Wile says, where his staff threw up their hands and asked City administration to suggest a spot. Administration came back to them with the 100 block of 13th Street South location which was ultimately rejected by city council- which leads the Mustard Seed to its current determination to wait and see what develops in Lethbridge.
“We will not step back into Lethbridge until the City and city council has identified a piece of property for us to purchase or to lease to start a dry shelter,” Wile says simply. Follow @TimKalHerald on Twitter 4
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