Property manager in downtown Oshawa, Ont., struggling to stay afloat amid open drug use, vandalism

A downtown Oshawa holding manager says she risks losing her fellowship business concern, set paired a non-profit agency that helps people who are homeless, amid ongoing issues on her property — including drug use, vandalism and public urination. 

Lord Simcoe Place on Simcoe Street S. Has been in Cindy Malachowski’s family for generations. But she says the building is bleeding tenants and has its highest vacancy rate in some 55 years.

“We had one paralegal service leave, saying, ‘We love the building, you’re a great landlord, but we watch people urinate outside our window and watch people shoot up,’” she said. 

Malachowski’s troubles reflect concerns across downtown Oshawa, which has a high concentration of social services compared to the rest of Durham Region, Mayor Dan Carter has previously said.

While businesses report problems with people accessing those services, experts say there are few options for shelter spaces across Ontario, and so more needs to be done to address the root causes of homelessness. 

Malachowski’s building is opposite Back Door Mission, a non-profit inside a former church. The mission helps facilitate Mission United, a program that had its origins during the COVID-19 pandemic but has continued in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Durham. 

Executive director Nathan Gardner says the mission has made changes to its programming in recent years that take into account its clients, staff and the impact on the community.

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Since the pandemic, Malachowski says she regularly sees people outside her building who have passed out and who are aggressive. She says she frequently finds used needles on the property, and regularly deals with vandalism and broken windows. 

“We have to wash certain parts of the building sometimes twice a day because there’s so much urine, vomit, feces,” she said. 

“There’s really nothing that surprises us anymore. We’ve had people use our flower gardens as toilets.” 

In May, Carter declared a public health crisis in Oshawa, saying violence and unlawful behaviour linked to homelessness, mental health and addiction issues are hitting a breaking point. 

“My community does not deserve to live in fear, day in and day out,” Carter said at the time. 

There have been around 25 arrests that led to charges at Malachowski’s building over the past five years, Durham Regional Police said.

Malachowski, who once worked for the CMHA, says Back Door Mission has not managed Mission United properly. People are turned away when the program reaches capacity and then go onto her property, she says. 

Gardner says he doesn't take complaints from businesses and community members lightly. He said the nonprofit has dealt with city bylaw violations, but he declined to comment further. 

The mission has made “massive changes” in recent years, Gardner said. 

Over the last two years, he said the mission has increased security guards, added signage warning against trespassing, and gradually ended all outdoor programming. It is also trying to increase washroom access throughout the day. 

“We have always tried to do what we can in order to both mitigate impact and keep services … at the core of what we do,” he said. 

The Mission United program only recently began the process of shifting from a crisis response mode informed by the pandemic to community-based programming, Gardner said. In September, the mission began providing several new eight-week programs, including support groups around homelessness, and a program about coping with addictions, he said. 

During this transition over the past year, he said the mission “did fall off on doing meaningful engagement” — which he wants to refocus on as a priority. 

When asked if he thinks the mission is being blamed for a broader homelessness crisis across Durham Region, Gardner said the agency holds “our fair share of responsibility for all the work we do and all the impact it has.” 

The solution to blame is community, he said. 

“It's being part of iterative conversations and support to understand what it is that we need to do in order to improve this.” 

In 2022, Malachowski wrote a letter to Michael Tibollo, then the province’s associate minister of mental health and addictions, outlining concerns related to the Mission United program. 

In response, ministry spokesperson Ema Popovic said the province is building a system of care focused on "treatment, support, and recovery" by building 28 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment hubs  — including one in Oshawa.

Malachowski's letter had 31 signatories, including Parmac Relationship Marketing Ltd. And Wilson Furniture, both located in downtown Oshawa — though not opposite Back Door Mission. 

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Louise Parkes, president of Parmac, says the mission’s location is out of place considering the businesses that are downtown. 

“They may be doing wonderful work, but it’s just not the right location,” Parkes said. 

In response, Gardner said services “are provided where the need is greatest,” adding the mission has looked at other possible locations in the city. 

People are also limited in options for safe and stable spaces as shelters across Ontario deal with capacity issues, says Nick Cristiano, assistant professor at Trent University in the policing and community well-being program. 

“Getting rid of a place where they congregate will just simply displace them. It’s not going to actually get at the root causes of the issue,” he said. 

Both Parkes and her husband, Darryl Sherman, president of Wilson Furniture, also said more needs to be done to address these root causes — such as through increased affordable housing and a focus on recovery programs. 

The couple have not seen an impact on their businesses to the extent Malachowski has. Malachowski is at “ground zero,” said Parkes, who does see ongoing issues with loitering outside her company. 

Like Malachowski’s property, Wilson Furniture is a family business that’s been at its downtown location for 91 years, Sherman says. 

As the city’s homelessness crisis has worsened since the pandemic, people no longer want to come downtown, he says. He says he knows several businesses that have moved to other locations because their staff do not feel safe. 

“It’s killing a community that we’re trying to revive,” he said. 

Have an Oshawa news story our team should cover? Email us to get in touch with our reporters in the city: oshawanews@cbc.ca

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