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The task force behind a temporary homeless shelter planned for Collingwood is still working toward a November launch date, but it’s going to be tight.
Pam Hillier, executive director of Community Connection and part of Collingwood Out of the Cold, said the two newly hired staff are working to determine the day-to-day operations of the shelter and the staff and volunteer requirement and job descriptions. From there, the group will post the jobs, interview candidates, and hire shelter staff.
While Out of the Cold hasn’t officially arranged a space yet, Hillier said there are three options currently in the works.
“Space won’t be a problem,” said Hillier.
Out of the Cold was in talks with Living Faith Christian Church on Hurontario Street across from Collingwood Town Hall, however, Hillier said the space was too small and there were too many changes to be made to accommodate the shelter use.
Hillier wouldn’t say where the other three options were.
There were rumours of some opposition in the downtown business community to a homeless shelter located in Collingwood’s downtown.
Hillier said she hadn’t heard of any opposition from business owners.
Sue Nicholson, general manager of the Collingwood Downtown BIA, also said she hadn’t heard any official opposition to the Out of the Cold shelter, and didn’t know where they were hoping to locate.
Penny Skelton, the chairperson of the BIA Board of Management, said the Out of the Cold shelter did come up at the Sept. 12 board meeting. Skelton said it was a “general discussion” about homelessness in Collingwood and “its existence in the downtown core.”
“We agreed that homelessness exists in Collingwood, that some people are sleeping rough in the downtown area and the need exists to establish a winter shelter,” said Skelton.
The Out of the Cold initiative would see an overnight temporary shelter established and open from November to mid-April with 10 beds open every night of the week.
“We applaud the initiative of the Out of the Cold Taskforce and await hearing their plans for the temporary shelter and its staff,” said Skelton.
There was an email sent to Nicholson and included on a past BIA board meeting agenda from someone living near Thornbury since 1971 who said they attend Collingwood twice a week for shopping and banking.
“In recent weeks we have noticed an increase in folks hanging out in downtown doorways smoking, drinking, urinating, obviously high on drugs, trolling through the parking lot at Loblaws, confronting people for handouts and otherwise intimidating the general public,” states the email.
The author’s name is redacted, and the email was sent through the Collingwood Downtown BIA website.
“We are concerned as local residents because downtown Collingwood has always tried to promote a tourist-friendly atmosphere,” states the email. “Where are these folks coming from and what can be done to control them? Less affordable housing in the downtown area? Police food patrols? I don’t know but there is a very real problem in your town.”
Hillier said she is aware of this complaint and has read the email. But, said Hillier, just because someone is ‘hanging out downtown’ doesn’t mean they are homeless.
“I think our biggest work is educating the community there’s a homeless problem in this area, and why, and what the community is doing about it,” she said.
According to Hillier, information for that education will come from Community Connection and other service agencies working together under the umbrella of the Built for Zero Canada campaign that aims to bring about national change through a structured, supportive, data-driven approach to optimize local homeless systems.
The nation-wide initiative is funded in part by the Government of Canada and is led by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.
Locally, that means no matter where someone goes for help — from My Friend’s House to Home Horizon to Community Connection or to the Out of the Cold shelter — they will have the same consent and intake forms and process, and the agencies will be collecting data in the same way.
“Right now, it’s all over the place,” said Hillier. “Our agencies need to learn to work better together ... collaborating on cases.”
By working together, building relationships with homeless individuals or those at risk, and collecting pertinent data, Hillier said Community Connection and other agencies can have meaningful discussions with the town to clearly explain - with the data to back it up - what kind of housing or infrastructure would help end chronic homelessness.
The agencies could work together to build a list with a more clear picture of how many people in Collingwood are homeless, why they’re homeless, and what their needs are.
“That list won’t be perfect, but it will be a lot better than what we have now,” said Hillier.
Meanwhile, work continues to put together a temporary shelter with the goal of building a permanent shelter in three years.
Hillier said there are some “ideals” they’d like to see in a shelter space, for instance: showers, separate sleeping spaces for families or to separate genders, a kitchen for cooking and serving, laundry facilities, and a place for volunteers to sit and work.
But they aren't deal-breakers.
“We can work around showers, laundry, and food,” said Hillier. “We want to start slow and not do everything … we don’t want to make our expectations so high we’re not able to start.”
The plan is to try to serve dinner and breakfast for the potentially 10 people who will stay overnight. Already, Hillier said the group has received commitments from local restaurants to prepare food for dinner and breakfast service.
She said the group hopes to announce the space where the Out of the Cold shelter will operate within the next two weeks and perhaps host a public open house to invite residents in to see what the shelter will look like.
The main purpose of the shelter is to give homeless individuals a safe place to sleep overnight, but, said Hillier, also to connect with those who are homeless and match them with services that might help them where their needs are - whether that’s to connect them with a job opportunity, help get medical care, new boots, a haircut, a shower, clothes, and more.
For more information about volunteering, future job posts, and upcoming fundraisers, visit the Collingwood Out of the Cold Facebook page.
