City works to find housing solutions for displaced 1616 Ouellette residents before shelter closes Monday

A deadline is looming for residents of 1616 Ouellette Avenue who were evacuated from their homes two weeks ago over safety concerns at the apartment.

Residents at the apartment building have been out since Nov. 22, when the city ordered an evacuation because the building didn’t have heat and needs upgrades to the electrical system and fire code before residents can move back in.

A number of people are working diligently to get the building back up to snuff.

“There's a lot of moving parts,” said Marla Coffin, the owner of Marda Management. Her company was hired for ‘crisis management’ with the goal of fixing the many issues keeping residents out.

“We're making some progress for sure,” Coffin said, noting there is still no timeline for when residents can return. “We certainly have made some headway with respect to the heating systems, although they are not up and running in full yet. But we are hoping for that hopefully, within a week or so.”

But the emergency shelter housing dozens of displaced residents will soon close.

Peter Werner, a former resident, considers himself lucky. He never stayed at the shelter because family took him in.

On Friday, Werner finally got approved as high priority for social housing.

“It's so hard to find a place. Like it's unreal,” he said, choking back tears.

About 40 others are still at the emergency shelter, set up by the City of Windsor and Red Cross.

“There's other ones out there, which I know I'm supposed to worry about myself, but I worry about them now too. I always have,” Werner said. “They might be out on the streets Monday.”

That’s when the temporary shelter closes.

The city’s social services department is working around the clock to help find solutions for anyone still staying there.

“We're working right hard, right through the weekend,” said Kirk Whittal, the city’s executive director for housing and children's services. “We have staff on site. Many of our social services staff, we have social workers, we have people you know working really hard to find alternatives and help these people.”

Windsor’s affordable housing wait-list already boasts 6,000 people and a tight rental market is making it tougher to find accommodations for people now on the high priority list.

Whittal hopes to have some solutions for everyone by Monday.

“I'm feeling pretty good about how people are approaching us and looking for that kind of help. And then we're able to help,” he said.

For some, the city is recommending staying with family until the building is ready to move back in.

Werner tells CTV News he won’t be going back. He’s looking for a fresh start somewhere else.

“It could be a few days. It could be a few weeks. But I am praying,” he said. “Need to get that smile back where it's supposed to be instead of the upside down thing.”