Collingwood candidates offer ideas to address local homelessness – CollingwoodToday.ca

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Over the past four years, Collingwood has seen an uptick in the local population experiencing homelessness.
CollingwoodToday.ca asked all candidates for their specific plans to address homelessness in Collingwood. 
Candidates were asked what steps they would be willing to take at the council table to address homelessness in Collingwood both short- and long-term.
As supplemental questions, candidates were also asked:
Candidates were asked to keep their response to 150 words. Their answers are below.
Steve Berman, Ian Chadwick, Cam Ecclestone and Rob Ring did not return a request for comment by deadline.
Homelessness is a growing problem in our community. The only way to address this issue is by getting at the root cause – housing is unaffordable. As mayor, I will immediately move to build 900 affordable rental units aimed at people who work in Collingwood (OPP recruits, PSWs, retail workers, etc.) using town land.
In the short term, I will demand that the county step up and provide the shelter services that our tax dollars pay for. Shelters, homeless hubs, emergency outreach and related services are a county responsibility that everyone in Collingwood is paying for without receiving service. We cannot have people living in the woods. I voted earlier this year to provide $75,000 to help fund the David Busby Centre for their winter operations this year in Collingwood. The county has only committed $60,000. This is unacceptable and as mayor I will fight for all members of our community.
This is personal for me; I was among the army of volunteers creating meals for people experiencing homelessness during COVID, starting in April of 2020 until this past August, first with Out of the Cold Collingwood and then with the Busby Centre when it took over operations. All the people who were using the motel shelter have been offered ongoing shelter and supports. Some have chosen not to take that help, for various reasons.
I voted, along with the rest of council, to provide $75,000 to Busby to continue its outreach work. It's very concerning there was no response to the county's call for proposals to run a shelter here this winter. It's the county that provides social services currently.
The Johnson Trust buildings are in disrepair and the question is whether the town rebuilds or if the property is made available for development by some other entity. We will have to be very careful to avoid the trouble other municipalities have faced when it comes to independent entities operating town-owned facilities. We learned with our electricity utility how things can go wrong.
If elected mayor, I will continue to do all that is possible for our neighbours who are in crisis.
The issue of local homelessness has been with us for decades, though only recently has it grown to a point where it is in the eye of the general public. It includes not only those we see in several tent cities within our municipality but also students who are couch surfing so that they can finish school and adults/young families who are also “surfing” between homes of friends and relatives as they struggle with the financial challenges of finding accommodation.
The South Georgian Bay Shelter Feasibility Study (Fall 2020), concluded that “… Southern Georgian Bay would be more suited to a Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (using motels with wraparound supports for people needing emergency temporary accommodation, and would use rent supplements to assist (homeless people) to become re-housed rapidly.”
Nonetheless, important initiatives like the Out of the Cold program, now overseen by the David Busby Centre, are critical services for short-term needs.
There is no easy answer to this nation-wide issue. At best, it will take the co-operation of federal, provincial and municipal governments to address. This includes a strong regional approach involving the Georgian Triangle communities (Meaford, The Town of The Blue Mountains, Collingwood, Clearview and Wasaga Beach) and Grey and Simcoe counties.
Clearly what was termed by resources back in mid-2021 as "episodic" has rather alarmingly grown into a chronic homelessness issue for Collingwood.
Correctly our community partner, the Busby Centre, has identified that a Housing First model that includes a hub, which is only meant to be an emergency temporary housing solution, is the preferred option. Council needs to do more but answers aren’t going to be easily found.
Yes, the $75,000 grant to Busby for 2022 and the hiring of an affordable housing planner are steps in the process. The Affordable Housing Task Force has to continue to do their amazing work too. The planner should report immediately on the work done so next step decisions are made. Especially in regards to the Johnson Trust Apartment situation as it is an opportunity to help.
Also on Simcoe County’s affordable housing advisory committee findings since it is imperative to work together with that initiative to find effective and efficient solutions.
The issue of homelessness across Ontario but more specifically in Collingwood is one of those complex problems that definitely does not have an easy answer to solving it.
In regards to council supporting a homeless hub concept that was identified in the South Georgian Bay shelter feasibility study, I believe we have been doing that and with continued support from the county, we might begin to scratch the surface. Council should continue with its support for attempting to implement a local emergency shelter that is open to serve all. We must do our best to secure a site and staff to assist in the running of it. Moving on from having an emergency shelter as a transition to attainable rental units in our community should be at main priority. Through partnerships with local businesses we can hopefully build units that will not only host their staff but the future staff needed in the retail, tourism and food industry within our boundaries.
As I stated at the beginning, homelessness is not only a Collingwood or an Ontario problem but a world problem and to be quite clear and honest if I had a definite answer, I would be happy to share it with the world, politician or not, as it’s the humane thing to do.
There is an old saying used in politics, “You don’t hire a dog and do your own barking.”
Our new council must take this to heart and accept the recommendations from these well-meaning and knowledgeable experts in their field. Time now to take action and move forward adopting these recommendations.
I know we have been using motels and other rental properties in the short term. I am also aware of the pushback from neighbours about any such facilities in their immediate vicinity (I experienced this first-hand on the Committee of Adjustment with the Peel Street application for the Out of the Cold Collingwood shelter).
There has been and may continue to be pushback whenever and wherever an emergency shelter is proposed. In this case, I have always found in my experience as a community mediator that quiet off-line discussions with the community are helpful before things get too far in development. You need to build a base of local community support – particularly with neighbours who are close.
Cost is not the issue for a community of our size but rather acknowledging and accepting that we as a community have an obligation to respond.
I have proposed that municipalities lobby the province and feds for legislation that will allow a two per cent tax (similar to the gas tax) that gets funnelled back to the postal codes of the municipalities where the sales occurred. Still to be determined if it’s the buyer or seller (or both split) that pays the two per cent.
These funds would go to a not-for-profit or charitable trust run by directors from that community. It would take time to accumulate the funds necessary to purchase and then build appropriate rental housing but the rents (including geared to income) would be funnelled back to the trust to pay off the notes for the land purchase and the building thus being able to be re-invested in future projects.
Regarding land that is now available, perhaps if the right group pitched the town (housing co-op, Habitat for Humanity etc.) a deal could be worked out along these lines.
When I was on the Police Service Board of our town, we implemented a pilot project to reduce the stress of police/citizen interactions. We need similar thinking from mental health workers in any jurisdiction to propose new innovative solutions as whatever we having been doing to date hasn’t worked well enough.
I would support ideas that will help this issue.
Create a shelter, build new one, use some existing structures for housing, work with the county and province and the public.
We need ideas to help people in this situation. Something will happen and I want to be a part of the solution.
Per the article you reference, the solution is multi-faceted and needs to include immediate support for homeless via the David Busby Centre. In addition, I believe the motel/hotel-as-emergency-shelter, which would function also as transitional housing, must be maintained and these clients, in turn, need to be transitioned to long-term rental housing, potentially via rental subsidy program with wrap-around health and mental health supports. Funding should come from the region, as this is a regional issue, with support from our respective counties and any federal/provincial grants that are available. We should also be considering private sector funding to support/subsidize long-term affordable rental housing, as it is often the staff of these businesses that are experiencing affordability issues.
For example, a special tourism/accommodation tax could go into a reserve to fund a rental subsidy program. Many municipalities across the county have already instituted such a tax.
The Shelter Feasibility Study concluded that a local emergency centre is not feasible, and I agree – at the cost of some $120,000 per year, the money could be spent to well support the David Busby Centre on the supports that they are providing specifically for Collingwood.
All affordable housing operated on town land needs to provide the most efficient use of land possible, while being sensitive to the surrounding neighbourhood from a design and management viewpoint. I strongly support the notion of re-development of the Johnson Trust apartments, with a view to increasing the density on these lands. Any other town-owned lands developed for affordable housing, need to be similarly built on these principles.
I would like to add that in my view, the town generally needs to facilitate the development of as much new rental housing as possible. I do not believe that the creation of new homes for sale is ever going to answer the housing needs of those individuals with household incomes in the lower percentiles, ie, under $40,000 per year, which reflects the high side of earnings of most of our service sector residents. The new draft Official Plan lays the groundwork for the facilitation of more affordable rental housing. I can direct you to the staff report on the creation of the rapid accessory dwelling unit deployment program as one example of this. Another is facilitation and incentives to provide rental housing on the upper levels of commercial buildings.
Council needs to continue to provide adequate support to the David Busby Centre to ensure that all of our homeless individuals are contacted and picked up for emergency shelter support on a daily basis. In addition, the town must ensure that there continue to be daytime warming or cooling centres for anyone in need of them.
The recommendations in the feasibility study are great. The idea of using existing facilities and building on them to find a solution to homelessness and support their transition is much more effective than simply a shelter. I believe next steps would be for the town to work with local organizations and partners to identify where this hub solution can best be implemented.
I think a local emergency shelter is necessary to address immediate needs, especially as we enter the winter period. It's a stop-gap solution but one that is needed in the short term. It's not a solution to the overall problem but until we have other supports in place we need to provide emergency access to shelter.
The town should be looking at existing properties and how they can be retrofitted to support affordable housing. In some cases that's possible. In others where it isn't possible then there is opportunity to redevelop using more creative solutions such as tiny homes, co-living, and co-housing developments to provide smaller and denser population space.
An outreach task force could be formed to facilitate communication to those experiencing homelessness. Similar to how the town formed an emergency economic and business support task force to support local businesses, the same can be done to communicate with and identify potential solutions.
I initiated the request to council for the Affordable Housing Task Force and have supported their work for the duration.
I would continue to consider funding within the budget process and advocate with the County of Simcoe for assistance with resources on a regional basis. I would continue to support staff participation in the social services round table.
I would pursue county/provincial resources. I suggested recently researching where the temporary COVID hospital tents from Barrie and other hospitals went with the idea of investigating the feasibility of using them for temporary emergency housing.
I would follow up with the new staff member dedicated to the affordable housing file and continue pursuing the affordable housing task force recommendations to identify a funding model that works for the most expedient wins with affordable housing builds, be it with town-owned land or other.
Council should direct staff to review the work undertaken in this area by other municipalities including Windsor and Calgary and report back on findings and recommended next steps. In addition, the affordable housing task force and other community-based experts should be engaged in the process.
In addition to providing funding assistance (to the emergency shelter program), council should be prepared to pursue potential partnership opportunities and programs (i.e. management services, housing voucher) with appropriate NGOs, church agencies, and other not-for-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army and the United Way. There is also need for collaboration with other government jurisdictions in addressing this pervasive challenge.
The Affordable Housing Task Force has recommended replacing the Johnson Trust Apartments on Birch Street with mixed-use units and increased density and height. In addition, it would also make sense to consider builder incentives such as reduced development fees, a streamlined application review and approval process, and integration of a neighbourhood-compatible commercial component at grade. I would also like to see identified/listed other town-owned land deemed potentially suitable for affordable housing.
Council members should commit to meeting with people experiencing homelessness, hearing their stories, and witnessing first-hand their living conditions. This, along with related data gathering and analysis, will provide a greater understanding of and empathy for needs and required support services (and budgetary allocation) – health and wellness checks, diversion and mediation, outreach supports, healthcare and mental health practitioners, addiction counselling, etc.
I like the idea of a "homeless hub" as opposed to a shelter for many reasons but the main one is safety. I've heard many stories of people staying in shelters who do not feel safe and are not able to rest/sleep.
Homeless safety is imperative and living in a safe environment is conducive to self-esteem, seeking or accepting support and finding employment. As for funding, perhaps approaching corporate sponsors, having local restaurants donate leftover food, etc.
For this coming winter, Collingwood obviously needs some sort of shelter. I'm not sure if the arenas could be open for overnight stays (lobby areas) during specified hours but it's something that could be looked at. I understand that this is not permanent, but in the short-term, we need warm spaces.
I believe the town should be looking at tiny home construction on town-owned property. These units should be able to be purchased for approximately $20,000 and construction would be relatively cheap. Another option is to offer incentives for residents to convert basements to dwellings and streamline the process for permits for these dwellings. Converting sea cans to dwellings is a growing trend and surely these are affordable.
I know at one point Barrie had a bus that drove around the city tending to the homeless, be it minor medical issues, providing warm food or simply checking on the homeless who didn't want to go into a shelter due to the safety issues, pride, anxiety etc. It is fantastic the police are making visits to these camps and it is even more vital in the winter. I think council should consider following the model Barrie has and providing the funds to make this happen. It's not a long-term solution but in the short-term we need to ensure the safety and well-being of the homeless.
As your councillor, I will ensure that I work hard to support homelessness in the community. I will work to support an emergency shelter to assist the public with such resources.
It is important for this council to stand behind homelessness in the community and assist with any funding methods available.
I have walked the trails. I have walked the streets. I take this very seriously and want the public to know I am here for them.
About the Author: Jessica Owen
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