Chinatown businesses concerned over plan to open HART hub

Businesses in Ottawa's Chinatown neighbourhood are expressing concerns over a planned Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment centre, also known as a HART hub, that is slated to open in the area.

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Some business owners say they have been dealing with consistent issues relating to homelessness in the area and are not sure the addition of the hub, which will replace the safe consumption site in the Somerset West Community Health Centre, will help solve that.

The hub is set to open inside the centre at 55 Eccles St. off Booth Street. The proposed HART hub will offer a mix of health and social services for addiction care, which could include withdrawal support, walk-in healthcare and counselling, other addiction management and housing supports.

The site will not offer safe consumption services or a needle exchange.

Wahid "Alessandro" Mirzadeh, owner of Ciao Italia on Somerset Street West, says he has seen his share of issues in the area.

He says would-be thieves once tried to brazenly take an expensive bottle of vodka from his shelves and says he had to wrestle the bottle away before the group of three left. He says he's seen issues of vandalism and drug use in the area related to the homelessness and wants people and his customers to feel safe.

"It's bad sometimes," he said. "I'm not saying it's happening everyday – but it's happening."

Further down the street, owner of Lim Bangkok Grocery says he is seeing similar problems. He says he's seen a 30 per cent decline in his customer base in the last decade.

"It's been very difficult, plus we haven't counted the loss of shoplifters," he said.

The centre is set to close its safe consumption site under a provincial mandate to close sites near schools and childcare centres by March 2025. The health centre says the hub will support those with the largest needs.

"Everyone wants to feel safe and secure in their community. We share that same desire," said executive director for the Somerset West Community Health Centre Suzanne Obiorah.

She says the new hub will provide more funding for services the hub already offers. The services would include extended hours for the Eccles Street location. The hub will not be a treatment or detox centre but will help connect people with those services.

Obiorah says providing support where people need it most is vital.

"It's going to deepen our reach and it's going to increase access for all members in our community," she said.

The Chinatown BIA says a recent vote showed 86 per cent of its members oppose the hub. Businesses and owners like Mirzadeh say it's not about the services but the location itself.

"They are finishing with something," he says of the closing of the safe consumption site. "But they (are) starting with something new that is not really solving any problems for this area."

The Somerset West Health Centre was one of 10 sites identified by the province that would be required to close its supervised consumption site because it is within 200 metres of a school or childcare centre. The Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre in Ottawa's west end also applied with the province in October to become a HART hub.

Ontario intends to launch 19 new HART hubs across the province plus 375 highly supportive housing units at a cost of $378 million.