One of Chatham-Kent’s homeless shelters is quickly outgrowing its facility as the demand for its services continues to increase at a rapid pace.
Hope Haven in downtown Chatham has announced that it has begun the search for a new building that can best accommodate the growing number of people facing homelessness and poverty in the community.
According to Hope Haven General Manager Loree Bailey, there were 12,000 visits to the shelter to access day services in 2021. She said that number nearly doubled to 20,000 in 2022.
“It’s kind of been a realization that’s hit us on the head that we have to do something,” said Bailey. “When we look at the cost of living right now, we know that these numbers are not going down, so we have to do something so we can serve all of the people that really need us.”
She added that the current facility at 183 Wellington St. W is bursting at the seams as it provides services to 60 to 70 people each day
“We know that our building is an older building and we know that if we were bigger, we could serve even more people,” she said. “If we had something that was a little bit newer, a little bit more cost-efficient to maintain then we could be putting more resources into the services that we offer.”
Bailey said Hope Haven would prefer to remain in downtown Chatham to ensure the convenience of those accessing services. However, the shelter is in the very early stages of finding a new location and she said several factors would need to be considered.
While the shelter is currently partnered with the municipality allowing for paid employment for some staff, daily operational costs for programs are paid for by Hope Haven through donations from the local community.
Bailey said Hope Haven would welcome any potential support from any community partners who be willing to help.
“I think anything at this point is going to require creativity and definitely partnerships,” she said. “We’ll look at any idea because we want to make sure that we have a sustainable building that can manage the number of people that are coming in.”