The Mustard Seed was forced to cease operations after the City of Medicine Hat's planning authority denied a permit application in January. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

By Jayk Sterkenburg, Eli J. Ridder

IN THE COMMUNITY

Mustard Seed closes Medicine Hat daytime centre permanently

Feb 28, 2025 | 5:17 PM

The permanent closure of The Mustard Seed’s main Medicine Hat centre on Friday both left many vulnerable people without crucial services and satisfied weary residents who wanted the organization out of their neighbourhood.

The non-profit was forced to close by March 3 after the city’s planning authority denied a development permit for its North Flats site that would have legitimized its daytime services and added an overnight shelter element.

Donny Jamieson, who is unhoused, has used the Community Impact Centre’s services for the past year and a half. He said the staff at The Mustard Seed are like his friends.

“It’s almost intrusive at the very beginning because you don’t know what to expect and you don’t trust anybody being on the street,” he said.

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“Once you get used to it, which I did, and opened my mind a bit and dropped my attitude, this place has helped me immensely.”

The closure leaves Jamieson without another option.

“Even if you want to get away and do better, there’s nowhere to go,” he said.

The Mustard Seed provides three meals a day, physical and mental health supports, donated clothing, a mailbox for important documents and other critical services at its Community Impact Centre in the North Flats.

But it’s not just the services that bring people in.

Jamieson said that he comes to the Mustard Seed for the community and a sense of belonging with others.

Donny Jamieson says doesn’t know what comes next as The Mustard Seed closes its daytime services. Kevin Kyle/CHAT News

He said that most of the unhoused population is not problematic, but it’s the bad ones that the public focuses on.

“Society cuts you down, man. You know, they call you names,” he said.

“They badmouth you and they talk behind your back. They go on Facebook and say this and that,” he added.

“They don’t know us. They know what they see.”

The Mustard Seed says it is working with the City of Medicine Hat and other community organizations to continue as many of the crucial services it can.

It received approval from the city’s planning authority for its staff and volunteers to continue operating a kitchen it uses to feed guests at its Eighth Street emergency shelter.

The non-profit’s overnight shelter was not included in the stop work order from the city and it will remain operating with its 30-plus beds.

Robert Palmer, who lives across the street from the Mustard Seed’s Allowance Avenue Southeast site, said the resource centre is a needed entity in today’s world.

He said, however, that it should never have been placed in a residential area.

“I think it’s going to be great to get our quiet neighborhood back,” he said.

“And not have police driving around all constantly and people screaming and yelling. It would be nice for everybody here,” he added.

“Back to the way it was four years ago.”

Not all Flats residents are optimistic about the centre closing operations, however.

Dean Kosmick said that things will not get any better with the closure.

“People are concerned about this now? Wait to see what happens after this fact of them not having a place for them to go,” he said.

“They’re people. They’re not being taken care of.”

Kosmick said that mental health is an epidemic all around the world right now.

He said that if Medicine Hat wants to save face, it needs to address the crisis.

Clay Stevens, who owns a convenience store by the North Flats site, witnessed violence and illicit drug consumption throughout the neighborhood in the years since The Mustard Seed arrived.

He said it created an atmosphere of fear for those going outside, particularly at night. Now he hopes law-abiding residents can reclaim their neighbourhood.

“There’s a lot of people I know in the immediate area that are pretty happy about it and we’re definitely hoping that the crime rate goes down,” Stevens said Friday afternoon.

“And, that it becomes the old neighbourhood that we used to have.”

Mustard Seed CEO James Gardiner says that the organization is dedicated to continue serving people in Medicine Hat.

He told CHAT News earlier this month that work is underway to figure out how some services can continue elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a collaborative effort between Medicine Hat Community Housing Society, The Mustard Seed and Alberta government officials including local MLA Justin Wright is ongoing to find a new unified location for The Seed’s services.

The initiative started last year in response to growing complaints from residents who witnessed sexual acts and overdoses, found drug paraphernalia and had their belongings stolen by some Seed clients in the Flats neighbourhood.

But until a new location is found, many people who rely on the daytime services have nowhere else to access the same supports.

Jamieson said he and many others don’t know what comes next.

“It’s going to destroy a lot of people and their morale,” he said.