Downtown social services office planned for Charlottetown

The P.E.I. Department of Social Development and Housing is looking to partner with community groups on a new office space to make it easier to offer aid to clients in downtown Charlottetown.

Patrick Davis, the department's director of policy, said the idea is to fill two needs: to get closer to people in the downtown who may have trouble getting out to the suburbs, and to bring services together so clients can access them in one spot.

"Most of us all work with the same client group, or have involvement with the same clients, so we're trying to work together to make it better," said Davis.

The Canadian Mental Health Association, Family Violence Prevention Services and the Salvation Army are among the groups that could share the space, he said.

The space would be for daytime services only. Davis said other spaces in the downtown, such as Bedford MacDonald House, are operating at full capacity.

Considering lease

The province is looking at the ground floor of 211 Euston St., which has been a retail space for several years.

The province is looking to rent the space, and Davis said there would be no disruption to people living in other parts of the building. The department hopes to firm up plans this month.

This would be a pilot project, Davis said, to test how the province and community groups could work out of the same space to provide counselling and services.

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