The way Chatham-Kent Council has chosen to deal with transitional housing in the community has unanimous approval.
On Monday, council was presented with two options to address the growing housing and homelessness crisis in the region. The first was a congregate living, bunkhouse-style structure, similar to what's currently being used at Victoria Park Place. The second is a customizable cabin-style system with a communal building. Council and many of the municipality's community partners agreed with the second option.
"I'm really happy to see this. I think that the cabin way, is the way to go," said Ward 6 Councillor Marjorie Crew. "It's traumatic enough to be homeless, but this gives you dignity, it humanizes people, and gives them that opportunity to recover from homelessness," she added.
Other agencies in the community agree with Crew. Housing Services met with the Chatham-Kent Community Health Centre (CKCHC), Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) - Lambton Kent, Hope Haven, R.O.C.K. Missions, Victoria Park Place (VPP) staff, and people who have or are experiencing homelessness and the overwhelming consensus was that the cabin model was the way to go.
In fact, speakers from both Hope Haven and R.O.C.K. Missions said that more than 90 per cent of the unhoused people they asked preferred the cabin style housing over the congregate shelter.
According to the presentation by Housing Services, they are looking for a space to build 50 cabins. Each one would be about 100 square feet and is constructed from shipping containers.
The cabin is lockable and would be treated as the client's home, where they can come and go as they please. Each would contain a bed, mini fridge, shelving, and a desk and chair. An important factor, which is not often possible for congregate living, is that pets and spouses would be permitted.
Washrooms, a kitchen/dining area, laundry, training spaces, and office/meeting spaces would all be housed in a communal building, which would also be constructed of shipping containers.
Those living in the cabins would be expected to participate in programing, which could consist of behaviour or addiction management or building life skills. CMHA and CKCHC have agreed to continue providing onsite services and system navigation through health care for those living at the new site as they have at VPP.
The cabin program provides more autonomy to the people using it and is much closer to housing than a shelter bed, which helps with the transition into more traditional affordable housing.
This program has been successfully managed in Waterloo and a similar one is currently launching in Peterborough.
Ward 4 Councillor Jamie McGrail took the opportunity to visit the site in Waterloo and is very optimistic about a similar program coming to CK. She did note the one change the Waterloo site said they would make, which is to include a dog run or space for pets. "Please remember the pets," she said to Housing Services as they move forward with a planning phase.
The base cost of building the 50 furnished cabins, communal building, and all other outbuildings, such as an electrical cabin and a security cabin totals almost $2.6 million plus site development costs. Staffing, which includes 24/7 security and service staff, and operational costs are estimated at just under $2.4 million.
Ward 2 Councillor Anthony Ceccacci is mindful of the cost. "Were are equipped to be delivering this service, we are not equipped to be funding this service," he said. "Now that we have a plan in place, I think it's really important to take it to the MPP's office to show him exactly how far we've come, exactly what we've invested in our community, and to ensure that the province steps up and invests in our community as well," he added.
Administration will now get to work on the next phase of the plan, which includes finding a location for site, applying for funding from different levels of government and through appropriate grants and organizations, hiring staff, and finalizing budgets.
The plan is to get this project off the ground as quickly as possible. "It's cold outside," Josh Myers, the Director of Housing Services said.