Chatham-Kent moving forward with tiny transitional cabins as number of homeless encampments grows

$3.8 million in funding has been approved by Chatham-Kent Council to see 50 tiny transitional cabins built on Chatham's east side.

Construction should begin this fall and be completed by May 2025, when the current homeless shelter in Chatham is expected to close.

"As part of the overall plan for the site, there will be several other buildings on the site that will be used for providing services, as well as personal services like laundry facilities, kitchen facilities, that kind of thing. But also the wraparound services that will really help be the key to help folks get into more stable and secure housing permanently," explained Coun. Alysson Storey.

Storey said officials are trying to get funding from upper levels of government as the number of homeless people in the community climbs.

Municipal staff told the last council meeting that there were 10 homeless encampments currently in Chatham-Kent, with Storey suggesting there are upwards of 200 people known to be experiencing homelessness, “Which to me, as a lifelong resident of Chatham-Kent, as a as a councillor in Ward 6, that's a shocking number to me."

Storey continued, "It's difficult to see so many people in our community struggling, everyday we're finding more and more folks falling into homelessness, not just in Chatham-Kent, but across Ontario, across Canada, across North America. But to see your own friends and neighbors struggling so significant. To me, it's a full-on humanitarian crisis."

"Municipalities are being asked to do this alone, being asked to solve, which is a systemic societal problem on the backs of property taxpayers,” she explained. “As municipalities…every week at council, we basically beg the province to come to the table because addictions and mental health, healthcare, housing and homelessness are all issues that are provincial responsibilities, but they're not at the table with us."

"We're trying to manage expectations because there's 50 cabins and there's about 50 beds at our current homeless shelter. So these cabins actually don't necessarily move us ahead in the problem or in the issue," said Storey.

Storey added, "We're lucky to have community nonprofit organizations trying to fill the gaps. But they don't have the resources, they don't have the budget. The municipality doesn't have the resources or the budget. Our taxpayers are struggling, too. We can't be the only person at the table. The municipalities, local taxpayers should not be paying the price for a systemic societal issue. It's not acceptable. It's not affordable, and it's not sustainable."

Meantime, Hope Haven General Manager Loree Bailey applauds council's decision to move forward with the transitional cabins, telling CTV News she remains hopeful a new approach to tackling homelessness can be effective,

"Any step forward is good news," Bailey said. "Homelessness continues to increase and it's going to continue to increase. There's no indication that that is changing."

Bailey noted, "Hopefully [the cabins] are going to meet the needs of folks in a different way, which we have to do. If we keep doing what we've always done and we expect a different result that's defined as insanity. In hopes that this is a different approach to kind of the same problem...is it going to eliminate the encampments? Absolutely not. But it hopefully will allow people autonomy, security, and privacy.”