'We have to try something new': Location for transitional tiny cabins for the homeless approved by Chatham-Kent council

Officials in Chatham-Kent discussed where 50 tiny cabins to help house the homeless will be located during council Monday evening.

Staff have proposed an area in a residential neighbourhood at the corner of Park Street and Hyslop Street on Chatham’s east side as administration looks to replace emergency shelter operations with emergency transitional housing.

At Monday’s council meeting, the location was approved.

The program will consist of approximately 50 individual cabins and one shared communal building. The cabins will be located at 378, 390 and 392 Park Street.

City staff said after an expansive search that analyzed over 25 properties, this location was chosen as the final location for the program because it meets the following criteria:

• It is already Municipally owned, reducing the cost to tax payers
• 250 m from a convenience store
• 350 m from a bus stop
• 1.1 km from Outreach for Hunger
• 1 km from a laundromat
• 1.3 km from ROCK Missions
• 1.6 km from Hope Haven
• 1.9 km and 2.5 km from two grocery stores

378, 390 & 392 Park Street, Chatham. (Source: Municipality of Chatham-Kent)

“With Council’s approval, Municipal staff will be launching this important housing program as quickly as possible,” said Josh Myers, Director of Housing Services. “This program will give CK residents who are experiencing homelessness the opportunity to heal, learn new skills and be connected with other supports that are needed to change their future. The Municipality is taking steps, with the help of our partners, to improve the programs that we deliver and ensure that they have a lasting and positive impact on our community.”

“We're still struggling and we're not unique in that,” said Chatham-Kent Coun. Alysson Storey, who noted several homelessness and affordable housing items are on the upcoming council agenda

“We need to work together as a community and start to address it and having affordable housing sites including the transitional cabins for our emergency shelter, those are all part of a larger spectrum of addressing affordable housing in our community,” said Storey.

Storey explained, “The transitional cabins are not going to end homelessness in Chatham-Kent, but they're one tool in the toolbox we have to help folks transition out of an emergency situation, ideally into more supportive housing and that site is something that's been talked about and researched by Chatham-Kent administration for some time now.”

A homeless encampment in downtown Chatham, seen on April 8, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Storey said staff will look towards upper levels of government to help pay for the initiative, noting it will have substantial tax impacts.

“Dealing with vulnerable situations and vulnerable people is not an inexpensive situation and that’s why of course we’re calling on the provincial and federal governments to be partners with us at the table because they can pull a lot of levers that we don’t have as a municipality to get these projects started and shovels in the ground faster,” she said.

She continued, “If we don't address affordable housing and people living in homelessness in our community, there's no point in trying to address anything else. Whether it's our parks, the encampments, our crowded ERs, our healthcare system, policing, trying to improve our downtown revitalization. If we don't address the fact that we have folks who are in crisis in our downtown then there's no point in addressing anything else. This has to be addressed first.”

In January, Council approved securing 50 tiny cabins to replace the Victoria Park Place emergency shelter system in Chatham, noting the lease there is set to expire in May 2025.

The current program location at Victoria Park Place (215 Murray St.) will be decommissioned as soon as this new build is fully functional.

Council also moved forward on approving 24/7 security at the future cabin location to ensure occupants have a safe and secure location and that Housing Services be authorized to operate the site providing 24/7 case management staffing that focuses on securing community housing, life skills training, and community referrals.

A report before council states that municipal staff have not consulted with neighbouring residents of the recommended location, believing that it is important to inform Council of the potential location before initiating consultations with the community, while admitting that no location is a perfect fit.

Meantime, local homelessness officials applaud Chatham-Kent for moving forward with initiatives to address the growing housing and homelessness problem.

“I think there's a lot of really terrific initiatives that are [being talked about] and hopefully they'll at least help things along,” said Hope Haven General Manager Loree Bailey.

“We have to try something new,” Bailey exclaimed. “I think it's a great idea.”

Bailey told CTV News, “It's very unfortunate that people are having to live outside in tents. It's a terrible reflection of our beautiful community. I think it's really important that people realize when they see that, that it doesn't mean that there's less work being done or that people are caring less. It really just means that the problems are getting a lot worse.”

“Anything that we can do to make that better and to do it in a way that's respectful, we have to do it,” Bailey added.

For those looking to learn more about the program, please visit the dedicated Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent page.