'I am afraid for my life': safety concerns around Carepoint supervised consumption site

A first-year Western University student has some major concerns regarding security around the entrance to his apartment building on Dundas Street. 

Nic Nemisz says the only way to access his unit is through an alley way that is also shared by people using Carepoint — a safe consumption and treatment service to help the city’s most vulnerable population.

Since its inception, the supervised drug consumption site has faced a number of battles, including zoning of a permanent location and ethical fatigue, having to advocate for what is ethically right.

Despite the ongoing safety concerns in and around Carepoint, there is a need to keep it running, as the opioid crisis continues to grow in the City of London.

Nemisz is one of five people living inside this building. Originally from Calgary, he moved here to study at Western last fall. He says he did a virtual tour with the property manager from JDN.

“What kind of drew me in was the size of the room obviously, it overlooks the front of Dundas which is beautiful, but obviously there is some concern here in terms of security and safety,” said Nemisz.

Those concerns include a number of break-ins and the constant crowd outside his front door.

“My humanity that I usually have is not really there anymore because I am afraid for my life essentially,” he adds.

Nemisz says he has reported the problems to the property management company JDN, and up until recently, his concerns were brushed off, saying, “I was told this is just downtown, this is what you should expect when you move downtown.”

Deputy Chief of Administration with London Police Trish McIntyre says the area around 186 King Street is very unique.

"I think a lot of the issue specifically around 180 King, center around the trifecta I call it — mental health, addictions, and homelessness. Mental health in the role of police in mental health, we would much rather of course not respond to mental health calls. I think those vulnerable members of the community are better served through other forums,” says McIntyre.

Nemisz says there is no real sense of accountability on the landlord’s end. He says once he was locked in to the lease, it was his responsibility to either find someone to take over or he’d have to stay there for the remainder of his term.

Nemisz used the Western University’s off-campus housing portal to find this unit.

In a written statement to CTV News, Western said “the listings are not endorsed by Western. If a student runs into an issue related to the unit or the landlord, there is also free confidential mediation services that are offered.”

Nemisz will be moving out of the unit but he says that doesn’t solve the issue.

“There needs to be security in place, there needs to be additional supports for these people in order to protect future sites, everyone, including the users of the safe consumption facility," he says.

Several attempts were made to reach the property manager at JDN, however, our requests were not returned.

Nemisz says JDN reached out to the tenants last week and installed an automatic door closure, leading into the building.

Installing this new door closure system might provide a bit more security for the tenants at 187 Dundas Street, but some of the issues that Nemisz is facing are occurring across the city.

The Director of Harm Reduction Services with Regional HIV/Aids Connection Sonja Burke, who oversees Carepoint, says they’ve always been committed to being a good neighbour. But a number of recent factors have challenged the way they support the people requiring their services and the community around the site.

In part two of this story on Thursday, CTV News speaks with Burke, who explains that these safety concerns are not just around Carepoint. Ward 13 London City Councillor John Fyfe-Millar also addresses the deeper underlying issue at hand, the mental health and drug addiction crisis in London, Ont.