Resident near Downtown Mission feels leadership 'indifferent' as issues mount

"Indifferent to the community" is how Pelissier Street resident Paul Synnott is describing the leadership of Windsor's Downtown Mission — because of issues he sees living near the Ouellette Avenue homeless shelter and a recent incident where the beam from a laser pointer hit his eye. 

"All we as residents are asking for is the Mission to make a good faith, honest attempt to control the behaviour," Synnott told CBC Windsor. "Every engagement anybody has ever had with the Mission, it's almost like a form letter."

Synnott's home is just across the street from the fenced yard at the rear of the Mission. He said that on a nightly basis, the adjacent sidewalks and lots are scenes of drug use, drug dealing, fights and public indecency.

On top of that, residents are constantly dealing with property damage and theft attempts, Synnott said.

Synnott says the incident that broke his patience with the Mission was suffering a laser pointer beam to his eye as a result of a person on Mission property playing with the device.

"[Laser pointers] can literally burn your retina, damage your eye permanently," Synnott said.

Laser pointer incident symptom of a larger problem: Neighbour

According to Synnott, the incident happened on the night of July 6, when he was inside his home and noticed a green beam dancing on his walls. When he turned to look outside, the beam went into the corner of his left eye.

"It was like somebody sticking a sharp stick in the corner of my eye," Synnott said. "It hurt immediately."

Synnott said he went out onto his porch, and realized that the beam was coming from a laser pointer in the hands of a person on the property of the Downtown Mission.

"I mean, I could see the man sitting at a bench in the Mission compound," Synnott said. "He heard and saw me coming, and he booked it pretty quick."

Synnott says he has since spoken with Windsor police officers about it — but he feels the incident is only a symptom of a larger problem.

Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin, the executive director of the Downtown Mission, told CBC Windsor that she's aware of Synnott's criticisms, and she has spoken with him personally.

"I'm sorry he feels that way," Ponniah-Goulin said. "I take those [comments] to heart. I apologize for making him feel that way... but there's only so much we can do."

The laser pointer incident was not recorded on the Mission's security cameras, and staff have not reported any issues involving a client carrying a laser pointer, Ponniah-Goulin said.

Pelissier Street residents have had complaints about the Downtown Mission since the organization moved its shelter services to 875 Ouellette Ave. in June 2022.

Although the Mission has rules for people on its property, it's common for Mission clients to gather in nearby off-site areas — such as the vacant building that was previously the Central Branch of the Windsor Public Library and a nearby vacant office building. 

Ponniah-Goulin said there are staff members present on Mission property at all times, and there are volunteers who clean up around the Mission property three times a day.

"We are not Windsor police. We can only manage what's happening on our property," she pointed out. "If anything is happening elsewhere — on other people's property, or in public on the road or on the sidewalk... that is out of our hands, unfortunately."

Ponniah-Goulin encouraged anyone who notices problems on the Mission property to take photos or videos, and contact the Mission. But issues outside the Mission grounds should be brought to police.

"Some of the individuals that we've seen in pictures or videos don't even get any services at the Mission," she said. "We have no control over these people."

According to Ponniah-Goulin, the Downtown Mission still considers 875 Ouellette Ave. to be a temporary location of its shelter services: The long-term plan remains to move those services to a location close to the City of Windsor's Homelessness and Housing Help Hub, once that "H4" facility is established.

But the city's plans for the location of that hub are in flux. Previously announced plans for a prospective site for the hub have been cancelled, and council asked city administration this past spring to look at revisiting the idea that the H4 must be within a 2.5-kilometre radius of the downtown core.

Dana Paladino, the city's acting commissioner of human and health services, said that work continues on that report. She noted that any exploration of a specific property for the H4 would require assessments including environmental, archeological and financial.

Ponniah-Goulin said it could be four to five years before the Downtown Mission changes the location of its shelter services.

"I think the issues are being addressed, little by little," she said. "There are higher levels of government that are getting involved, which is wonderful."

Longtime Victoria Avenue resident Peg Dorner said she sympathizes with Synnott and other Pelissier Street residents: She also had a lot to complain about when the Downtown Mission's shelter services were located at 664 Victoria Ave., just up the street from her home.

"We saw all of that here," Dorner said. "But when the Mission moved — even if it's just a block and a half away now — all of that moved away from the neighbourhood. It has become a much more relaxed neighbourhood."

"I know the residents [of Pelissier Street] are just beside themselves. And for absolute good reason."

But Dorner says she doesn't think it ostracizes clients of the Mission to point out the issues — and says she feels services should be decentralized and spread out across the city. 

Synnott says he intends to continue to call public attention to the problems around the Downtown Mission.

But he also believes the Mission isn't solely responsible for those problems, and he's not trying to vilify people who are homeless or have substance abuse or mental health issues.

"This is a microcosm," Synnott said. "My goal is to get politicians to understand.

"I've issued a challenge and an invitation to the premier: Come visit. Just come visit me and sit with me on the porch at six in the morning or 10 at night."