'We have to do something different': Tiny cabins considered to help the homeless in Chatham, Ont.

Tiny cabins to house the homeless could soon be coming to Chatham as municipal officials in Chatham-Kent explore new ways to address the growing housing and homelessness crisis.

A plan for 50 transitional cabins to replace Victoria Park Place by May 2025 is being presented to council, while final capital costs, along with recommended locations, still need to be determined for final authorization.

“Obviously it's a growing concern,” said South Kent Coun. Anthony Ceccacci. “I think it's really important to recognize that it's giving them the opportunity to have a dignity of having their own personal space that they can care for.”

Ceccacci said he requested municipal staff to investigate ways to better serve those experiencing homelessness, and suggested the current shelter-based system isn’t working.

“I think it's an avenue that we have to at least look at,” Ceccacci explained. “It can give them a physical address, which could also potentially help in some of the funding that they receive, and gives them a place to call their own so they can be more prideful of what they have and kind of design their own little space to what they want.”

According to the staff report, each cabin will have a bed, desk, chair and a small fridge. Cabins will also be equipped with electricity, heating and cooling systems.

Ceccacci said the issue is compounded by factors such as finding the appropriate location, providing the appropriate to services to vulnerable people, and even the weather.

“Just imagine if somebody was living or trying to find sleeping arrangements, and that so I think it's really important that when we're discussing the location, and that comes to the prevalent conversation that we are at the end of the day talking about people and we have to be compassionate about the fact that the municipality has looked at how they best serve their most vulnerable population,” he said.

A tiny cabin shelter is seen in the Region of Waterloo in this undated image. (CTV Kitchener)

Officials stated the Regional Municipality of Waterloo is a leader in this area and worked with NOW Housing to build 50 cabins for their hybrid site. They also point to Peterborough, which has also launched a similar program with 50 cabins in their municipality.

Ceccacci continued, “There's a few other municipalities that have tried similar things and hopefully we can look at what they've done, what has worked, and put our own little Chatham-Kent spin to it.”

The report, which is being presented to council Monday evening, noted the municipality has operated an emergency shelter in three different locations since 2020.

Ceccacci told CTV News Windsor there’s hope upper levels of government can assist with the near $2 million projected cost. The report added municipalities do not have the tools, mandate or authority to deliver health, mental health, and/or addiction programing.

Instead, it relies on community partners and the provincial government to respond to those needs.

He admitted 50 cabins would not be enough to assist everyone in need, but said the approach is a good start.

“It's also important that we just kind of get our feet wet first without diving right in, see how they operate, see what the lifecycle costs are going to be, what the operational costs are going to be, and look forward to seeing, you know how the model works out before we kind of you know, hopefully, if things improve with the current landscape of the economy I don't I don't foresee that so I think it's a good start,” he said.

Victoria Park Place emergency shelter on Murray Street is seen in Chatham, Ont. on Jan. 15, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Loree Bailey, general manager of Hope Haven, said she likes the idea, and agreed the current approach isn’t working to address or reduce homelessness in Chatham-Kent.

“We have to do something different,” Bailey said. “I don't think anybody knows for sure what that is or what is going to be successful. But you can't go through Chatham and actually believe that what we're doing right now is working.”

“The beauty of this specific proposal is that it's easy to expand as it is easy to downsize and at the end of the day, that's really what we all want,” she added. “At least the cabin proposal at 50 cabins to start can be easily added to and then easily taken away from so no, I don't believe it's enough. I don't think anybody thinks it's enough. But it's a start.”

According to Bailey, Hope Haven saw 25,000 visits from those experiencing homelessness in 2023, expecting that number to keep climbing as it has over the last several years.

“Nobody wants to see a permanent giant structure, another empty building down the road in Chatham,” Bailey said. “At the same time nobody wants to see a giant [building] full of 150 homeless people either. So the plan being that this is temporary, that this is going to be in place until it’s not needed anymore, means that a great big giant building isn’t the solution.”