Source From: CBC NEWS
The Emergency Transitional Cabin Program will provide homes for 50 people on Park Street in Chatham’s east end
An aerial view of the lot where 50 tiny cabins will house those experiencing homelessness in Chatham. (Municipality of Chatham-Kent)
The municipality of Chatham-Kent has approved a project that will see 50 tiny cabins built to provide transitional housing for people who are homeless.
The Emergency Transitional Cabin Program will be located on Park Street on Chatham's east end and will give shelter and community support to residents.
According to a report from council, 25 properties across the city were reviewed as potential sites for the program before the Park Street address was chosen, as it "best meets the needs of the program and constraints of location."
The project, approved at council meeting, comes as the municipality is trying to replace its emergency shelter system with a transitional housing system.
Currently, between 35 and 45 people stay in emergency shelter beds each night, according to Chatham-Kent councillor Anthony Ceccacci.
"We're trying to do it in the most cost-effective and most dignified manner," Ceccacci told host Colin Butler on CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive last week.
There will be security support staff on site around the clock to provide mental health support, financial literacy programs and more.
The Cabins
The buildings are small — only about 8 feet (2.44 metres) by 10 feet (3.05 metres), according to Josh Myers, the director of housing services for Chatham-Kent.
The cabins will be outfitted with a bed, desk, fridge and a microwave each. Kitchen, living and bathroom facilities will be communal.
In Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., the problem of chronic homelessness is being addressed by a community of tiny homes. The housing project, called A Better Tent City, is funded by private donations.
Each person will get their own private cabin, though Myers said spouses and pets of residents would be allowed to live with them, giving the program the potential to house more than 50 people.
Rather than retrofitting existing infrastructure like school buildings, which some municipalities have repurposed for transitional housing, Ceccacci said cabins will be cheaper to build and easier to maintain.
While there's no fixed length of time that residents will be allowed to stay in the transitional cabin program, the goal is to transition program participants to more permanent housing.
"We'll be working with the individual to see what they need [and] working to provide those skills and services," Myers told Amy Dodge of CBC Radio's Windsor Morning on Monday.
"But all the while looking to see what [we can] secure in the private market, because we do also have to turn these units over. The need will far outweigh 50 cabins."
In planning for the project, municipality administration conducted surveys with those experiencing homelessness to see what kind of housing would best help them.
Loree Bailey, general manager of the shelter and charity Chatham Hope Haven, said she and her team helped distribute the surveys. The responses showed that prospective residents overwhelmingly favoured the tiny cabin option as opposed to a congregate setting with shared sleeping quarters.
"I can't even think of a one survey that said the congregate living environment was the best," said Bailey. "[A cabin is] a small unit but it will have a door and so they can have privacy."
The option to live with a spouse or be able to bring a pet into the cabins was another massive plus to survey respondents, according to Bailey.
Overall, Bailey said she's glad the municipality consulted those in the shelter system before implementing a new transitional housing project, as they are the ones who will actually feel the effects of the program.
Modelled after programs in Waterloo, Peterborough
Chatham-Kent plans to model its program after similar ones implemented in Waterloo and Peterborough.
The municipality has sent staff to the Waterloo facility and is in communication with the city of Peterborough about their program, according to Myers.
"We're in favour of the results we're seeing, we're in favour of the model. So we expect to be very close to that," said Myers.
A timeline has not been set for the program, but Myers guesses that the site might be secured by May 2025.
But, "We want to move as quickly as possible," Myers said. "So if we can move next month, we will."
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