New Brunswick man converting bus into mobile homeless shelter for P.E.I.

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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Keith Ivany knows what it feels like to live on the street, and he doesn’t want others to go through the same hardship.

The New Brunswick man is building what he calls a freedom bus, a 16-bunk shelter that will provide homeless Islanders in Charlottetown with a place to live.

Ivany visited Charlottetown in December 2022 and was saddened to see the encampments where people were living. He knew he had to do something to help.

“Basically, I said to God, well, what do you want me to do there? He said, ‘I want you to buy a bus’. I’m going ‘okay,’ at the time I didn’t have any money.’”

Ivany is the founder of Atlantic Freedom Ministries, a faith-based organization that provides support for trauma victims.

With financial help from the organization and other donations, Ivany was able to kick-start the project.

“I went to churches and started talking to people and they went, ‘Wow.’ Like the gentleman that we bought the bus from. It started off at $15,000 for the bus and anyway, by the time we got the bus, it only cost $8,000. He said basically, ‘If that’s what you’re planning on doing with the bus, I’ll give you the bus for $8,000.’”

Ivany has turned the 44-seat vehicle into a 16-bunk mobile shelter with the help of volunteers, several of whom were homeless at some point in their lives.

“We had two gentlemen, one, was a former addict … And between him and another guy, I’ve learned that just because people are addicts, doesn’t mean they’re not talented. That just means they’re hurting.”

He said the project is dear to him because of his own time spent living on the streets.

“I was an addict for 30 years myself. I know what it feels like to sleep on the concrete. I was a very bad addict because of multiple traumas in the past.”

The bus shelter will be available to homeless people in Charlottetown for now. People will be allowed to sleep there at night.

Ryan MacRae, housing advocate at the Cooper Institute, said even though projects like this may offer temporary solutions, longer-term plans are needed to tackle homelessness.

“This is like a temporary short-term solution. And, you know, unless we kind of have a more long-term approach to what’s going to happen to people who are living potentially in tents … then this isn’t going to address the problem.”

The influx of homelessness needs to stop, MacRae said.

Ivany’s bus is expected to make its way to Charlottetown in early October.

He has been in contact with local churches to secure a spot to park the vehicle.

Vivian Ulinwa is a reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. She can be reached by email at [email protected].