Hello Pictou County,

My name is Dwayne Wright, and I am the Board Chair of Viola’s Place Society. Like many of you, I am deeply concerned by the rapid rise in homelessness and addiction in our province. These challenges affect all of us, and the frustration growing in a lot of smaller communities, including New Glasgow, is real. I feel it too.

Before I respond to recent public comments, I want to briefly explain why I speak with confidence about this work, not because others’ opinions don’t matter, but because context helps.

In the early 2000s, while working in a bookstore focused on Buddhist philosophy, I learned about the Bodhisattva—someone who reaches the threshold of personal liberation but chooses to remain in a world of suffering to help others rise. I know it might be a difficult name to pronounce, but the main point of this story is the ‘choice to stay and help those who need it.” That idea profoundly shaped me.

A few years later I retrained, graduated with an addictions counselling diploma, and began working frontline in Halifax’s largest men’s shelter at the time. We served up to 80 men nightly with only three staff. It was difficult, heartbreaking and heartwarming work. It also taught me the realities of homelessness and addiction better than any textbook could. I spent nine years on that frontline. I experienced burnout. I experienced my first death threat. I also witnessed profound moments of human change that I will never forget.

My roots are here. I grew up in New Glasgow, went to school here, and returned to Pictou County with my wife and daughter in 2020. Not long after, I joined the Board at Viola’s Place. After decades in this field, I know the sector. I know what good homelessness work looks like, what best practices require, and what happens when communities come together—or fall apart.

Addressing Recent Misunderstandings

There is a narrative circulating—reflected in the Town of New Glasgow’s “What We Heard” report—that shelters like ours operate with “compassion without boundaries” that supposedly “enable” unhealthy behaviours.

Let me be clear:
Viola’s Place does not operate without boundaries.
We operate with structure, policies and rules.
We are funded by Opportunities and Social Development (OSD), they monitor our operations and we provide them with regular reports. We are also receiving support from other provincial departments like Mental Health and Addictions as reported here. This tells me that we are on the right path.

Even so, because concerns were raised, we proactively requested a full policy review from a third party consulting firm, a national leader in homelessness best practices. We look forward to their recommendations so we can strengthen our work even further.

Community Hostility and Misplaced Anger

In recent months, hostility toward Viola’s Place has reached levels that are difficult to understand. Staff and clients have been yelled at, harassed, even egged. It forces me to ask: What did Viola’s Place staff and clients do to deserve this anger?

I keep returning to the same answer: people are afraid and frustrated, and their anger is being misdirected. If I believed otherwise, it would shake my faith in the community I grew up in. I choose to believe in the Bodhisattva—not the alternative.

We are not the cause of this crisis.
We are part of the response.

Clarifying Recent Media Statements

An article published by 98.9 XFM on November 18 quoted Councillor Joe MacDonald saying he plans to bring forward a motion to remove Viola’s Place’s municipal tax-exempt status due to “poor communication” since the October meeting.

After the Town released its “What We Heard” report, Viola’s Place responded publicly with “What We Want You to Know,” including detailed data about homelessness in our community. Councillor MacDonald has publicly questioned the validity of our numbers before—most recently during our August 2024 presentation to Council. It was disrespectful then, and it remains disappointing now. The facts may not align with the narrative some prefer, but they remain facts. To date Councillor MacDonald has not provided any proof verifying his assumption that our stats are incorrect.

Our Operations Are Structured and Accountable

Recently, you may have seen a release from NG Police Department about a staff member being assaulted on-site, . This person was well supported and returned to work the next day. The individual responsible was immediately barred from service, following our clear policies.

Access to the shelter is a privilege with conditions. It is not anarchy. We enforce rules, including discharging and/or barring individuals whose behaviour threatens staff or clients. Unfortunately, when someone loses access, they do end up in the community—and the shelter is often blamed for that as well. This is the tragic reality of a system strained beyond capacity, not the result of poor practices.

Working in human services carries risk. I’ve lived that reality. However, in my 9 years working frontline in Halifax, I felt a sense of respect from the folks I served. I felt a sense of protection and care. I had the privilege of witnessing people transform from surviving to thriving. My last 4 years frontline were spent in Housing Support. I was able to house between 400-500 people, but this was just as the housing crisis was beginning to rise. It is exponentially harder to find folks housing now.

On the Relationship With the Town

Mayor Nancy Dicks recently stated that Council had “tried” to build a relationship with Viola’s Board, but that it did not turn out as hoped. From our perspective, we were having productive conversations about how we might best collaborate. The meetings occurred every 2-3 months and were comprised of the mayor, CAO, a rotating mix of councillors, and a representative from NG PD. These meetings highlighted a productive start to building this relationship and attempt to remove the silo’s we were working in.   Our last meeting was in July where Council requested that meetings pause pending the results of the Homelessness Strategy that is underway. We respected that request. Yet the narrative now suggests we were disengaged. We were not. That said, Viola's Place Society shares the mayors feelings about how our relationship turned out. The door is not closed in these conversations. In fact, we are meeting next week for further discussions. 

The Broader Truth

Viola’s Place is not just a shelter for the unhoused. Within a year, we distributed over $150,000 of OSD funds to housed members of this community who were facing eviction, choosing between medication and mortgages, or falling through cracks during a cost-of-living crisis. Our Trustee program is also assisting individuals with financial literacy and practical financial management skills. This program also assists community residents in creating budgets and managing their finances until they are in a place to manage on their own. This includes paying utilities and rent on behalf of the client.

Without that support, many of those neighbours—your neighbours—would now be homeless. These folks are sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and parents. They didn't dream of this as their reality. 

We are not the cause of this crisis.
We are part of the response.

Our Commitment to the Community

We acknowledge that we have not always communicated our work as effectively as we should have. The pace and intensity of crisis work can cause us to focus inward. That is not an excuse—it is something we are actively fixing. You will see more transparency, more updates, and more opportunities to understand how we operate. 

But we cannot do this alone.
We need a community that is informed, compassionate, and united.
We need volunteers, donations, and partnership.
And we need people to ask questions before passing judgment.

If you want to understand what we do, why we do it, or how decisions are made, there is a “Contact Us” section on our website. We will respond as soon as we are able. All we ask is that the dialogue be respectful.

A Path Forward

I remain optimistic. I believe in this community. I believe in humanity. And I believe that together we can restore a sense of safety and hope in New Glasgow—where everyone has a roof over their head, food on the table, and a warm bed at night.

But it will only happen if we walk this road together.

— Dwayne Wright