FREDERICTON DAILY GLEANER - THE IRVINGS SHOULD READ CHARLES BLOG MORE OFTEN!!!!

I was told that this story was in the Daily Gleaner-



Daily Gleaner | Greater Fredericton
As published on page A5 on September 10, 2005

Shelter director suspects woman is faking pregnancy

MOTHER-TO-BE?:
(THE DAILY GLEANER/RICHARD DUPLAIN PHOTO)
Joanne Edgar, 31, says she is nine-months pregnant and living between concrete and brick walls outside the city’s Emergency Shelter for men on the Woodstock Road. Edgar said she’s stayed at the women’s shelter but was evicted for fighting.

RICHARD DUPLAIN
The Daily Gleaner

She says her due date has just past and she doesn't know what's going to happen when she goes into labour.

For many women about to give birth, the telephone is close by and so are caring family members and friends.

Not so for 31-year-old Joanne Edgar, who lives in an area between two walls on the outside of the men's shelter on Woodstock Road.

She said she was due to deliver her eighth child Aug. 28.

The executive director of both the men's shelter and Grace House for women said she has her doubts about the pregnancy.

"I won't believe it until I see a doctor's certificate," said Pat Carlson.

The Department of Family and Community Services said it is monitoring the woman's condition and will step in if the baby's health is at risk during birth.

Edgar was born in Fredericton and grew up in Minto.

For the last 10 years she's been in and out of shelters between here and Toronto. She said she's not allowed inside the women's shelter here because of her tendency toward confrontation.

"I was kicked out of the shelter because of fighting," Edgar said. "I can't remember what we were fighting about but I know I didn't start it."

Edgar said she's been sleeping outside off and on for months if not years.

"I've slept under the bridge ramps and in other places around the city," she said. "It's hard but I have to do whatever I have to do."

Edgar said she doesn't receive any social assistance benefits and doesn't get any money, help or support from anyone.

"You need an address in order to get benefits," she said. "I don't have an address."

She said she doesn't know what she's going to do when she goes into labour.

"Someone walking by will help me," she said.

Edgar said she's had seven children and all of them have been taken by the Department of Family and Community Services.

"I'd like to keep this one," she said. "I'd like to have a place of my own and a chance to raise my child."

Edgar said she's not getting any help from her unborn child's father.

"He doesn't accept the fact he's the father," she said. "Even if he did admit it, he's not in any position to help out."

Edgar runs across the street to borrow a telephone or use a washroom. She eats at the Community Kitchen, just metres away from where she is living.

She said she's doing the best she can to tend to her hygiene needs. The stench from mounds of soiled clothing and bedding stacked around her on a small concrete pad between the two walls tell a different story.

"We have one guiding principle at our shelters," Carlson said. "We accept anyone as long as we can manage their behaviour."

Carlson said she has grave doubts about the woman's pregnancy.

"Edgar is known for feigning pregnancy because she's consumed with the notion of pregnancy."

Carlson said Edgar has had many opportunities to take shelter.

"She's had several opportunities for alternative living arrangements and we tried to offer her a place at Grace House but that only lasted one day," she said.

Carlson said Edgar is confrontational with staff and has difficulty with authority figures.

Edgar's situation is not unique, Carlson said.

"There are a number of people who prefer to be alone and on their own," she said. "There are a few people who just can't live under a roof, and that's a reality we have to accept."

The Department of Family and Community Services wants to help people like Edgar but cannot force people to accept assistance.

"We can't force people to be helped," said Robert Duguay, a spokesman for the department. "Assistance is on a voluntary basis."

"People are free to live where they want provided they are able to make that decision for themselves," Duguay said.

If someone isn't capable of making decisions, Duguay said, the department can step in. The rule, however, doesn't apply to children.

"Protecting children is our mandate," Duguay said. "We will intervene anytime a child is at risk."


Now I wrote about this in April. Go read my blog in this issue! It's all at

CharlesBlog