With a May 2025 deadline looming, Chatham-Kent took steps at its council meeting last night, to commit to creating a new emergency shelter for the homeless.
Chatham-Kent’s current emergency homeless shelter, Victoria Park Place, is only a temporary solution and its lease ends in May of 2025.
Council passed a motion that directed Chatham-Kent administration come back to council early in 2024 with a recommendation for a new homeless shelter, as well as operational and capital costs.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says there will be a number of options considered for a new homeless shelter, including a new building or possibly cabins or tiny homes to replace Victoria Park Place. The cabins, which could be built from shipping containers, would be approximately 100 square feet.
“We’ve got a lot of time to think about it and plan the next solution,” Canniff said. “May 2025 the current shelter is done, so we have to have a replacement for it. There isn’t the perfect solution, but we need to work towards the bets one we can.”
Kim Crew, Chatham-Kent’s program manager for homeless prevention, said they are currently looking at viable alternatives for council to consider, including finding suitable municipal land, as well as capital and operational costs for a new homeless shelter or hub. She estimated that a new homeless shelter would cost $2.5 million, while the cabins could be built for around $35,000-$50,000 each.
When council decided to turn the former Victoria Park school into a homeless shelter a few years ago, it garnered concern from nearby residents because of its impact on their neighbourhood. In the motion passed by council, it advised that a new homeless shelter, hub or housing, not be adjacent to schools, splash pads, licensed child care centers, parks and not within a residential neighbourhood interior.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Chatham-Kent continues to grow and in a report to council, administration said the trend is expected to continue. The number of households accessing emergency housing averaged around 50 beds per night this summer, up from 30 beds per night on average in the summer of 2022.
Chatham-Kent housing officials expect Victoria Park Place to have a waitlist for beds this winter. Compounding the situation, Chatham-Kent has approximately 60 fewer short-term rental options in motels than there were six months ago.
Mayor Canniff says the housing issue is complex and can’t be solved with municipal support alone.
“It is a massively complex problem, and if it was easy it would be solved by now. We, in our power, can’t fix it. We need the federal and provincial governments to put a lot of money into it as well, and currently that’s not happening as much as we’d like.”
Council also approved sending a letter to the province and local MPPs, strongly recommending an increase in social assistance rates to the local average market rent in an effort to help people afford housing.
