GUELPH – Tiny homes and sheltered encampments became the focus of the discussion after the county’s interim director of housing services Paul Skinner presented the county’s winter response plan for unsheltered homelessness at a recent Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee meeting.
The plan was created by county staff in response to a resolution from Guelph council in late May.
The city asked that if County of Wellington housing services staff determined a proposal from the Tiny Homes Coalition was not viable, the county provide an alternative solution to address people living in encampments in Guelph, “including a winter plan to support people experiencing homelessness.”
Skinner made a brief presentation during the Sept. 11 committee meeting, saying, “Housing Services has developed a winter response plan that we think will help accommodate the unsheltered residents over the winter months.”
As part of the plan, staff will begin “co-ordinated outreach” this month, connecting with people who are unsheltered, “with the goal of assessing housing readiness centred on self-choice,” he said.
“Starting in October, individuals will be offered accommodations at the Norfolk Temporary Accommodation site or local hotel,” he said.
The report contained in the meeting agenda package provided more detail, saying the Norfolk Street site can accommodate singles or couples and even their pets.
“Individuals who need to remain in unsheltered homelessness will be offered tangibles such as tarps, tents, sleeping bags, pillows, warm clothing, etc.” the report states.
People who chose to move from their encampments over the winter months will be offered storage for their belongings “at a location that is readily and easily accessible,” it stated.
Food and hygiene products will also be made available to people experiencing homelessness in both sheltered and unsheltered situations, the report notes.
Skinner told the committee the budget for temporary accommodations and “tangibles” was $560,000.
Storage costs are budgeted at $6,800, another $8,000 is budgeted for transportation costs, and $87,500 is in the budget for “food security and hygiene products.”
When committee members were given the chance to ask questions or comment on the report, the discussion veered to the topic of tiny homes.
Guelph councillor Linda Busuttil raised the issue of tiny homes, speaking about the housing continuum and wondering if there should be a conversation about tiny homes filling a gap between encampments and the supportive housing the county provides.
County social services administrator Luisa Artuso responded, saying “there is room for conversation” about a “true tiny homes community,” but what the Tiny Homes Coalition had proposed was more of a structured encampment.
Busuttil reiterated her concern for people who are living unsheltered.
“Before we can get to the permanent tiny homes … there’s something that has to happen that is more than a tent and a sleeping bag,” she said.
Artuso listed the various sites offering different types of accommodation, including the 68-bed Norfolk Street site; 65 Delhi Street, a 28-unit transitional housing project; and a 12-unit transitional site at 23 Gordon St.
There are also 24/7 sites on Highway 6 and on Waterloo Street that offer temporary accommodation similar to what a structured encampment might provide, she said.
“Those actually provide the same sorts of things that somebody might get a structured encampment,” Artuso said. “Actually, there would be more monitoring and supports.”
While the city doesn’t have a structured encampment or tiny home community, it has something to fill that gap, she said.
“It does exist in our community; it just looks a little different,” Artuso said.
But Busuttil presented the encampments in city parks, along rivers and in the downtown as evidence that people are not being supported by what exists in the community.
“Those 24/7 shelters aren’t meeting their needs, and I don’t have all of the reasons why,” Busuttil said.
County Warden Andy Lennox said defining the housing continuum to include tiny homes or structured encampments is less important than ensuring individuals that might live in such a site are receiving the support they need.
“I’m very concerned that we look after these people’s needs in the best way that we can with the resources that are available to us, rather than worry about what it’s called,” Lennox said.
Councillor Matthew Bulmer said he is concerned by the suggestion the county is somehow preventing the city from building a tiny home community.
“I don’t believe we’ve ever said the city couldn’t go ahead and build whatever they wanted to build,” Bulmer said, adding county staff would provide support to the extent they were able.
Artuso said the county is committed to working with the city, but she went on to list a number of issues related to the tiny homes idea that have yet to be addressed, including who would operate the project, costs, funding model, possible health services to be provided, and the number of people that might be accommodated.
She also noted an advisory group of people with lived experiences of homelessness will meet for the first time at the end of this month, and planning without that consultation doesn’t make sense.
“We need to consult with people with lived experience,” Artuso said.
She said the county’s mandate and provincial funding is to provide permanent supportive housing, and the funding is limited.
“You want to end homelessness, there’s two things – prevention and permanent housing,” Artuso said.
“And we all know that there’s not enough funding to do those two things, so we need to be very mindful about our emergency shelter system and how much money we’re investing in these temporary accommodations.”
County CAO Scott Wilson attempted to steer the conversation back to the winter response plan and the report, and there were subsequent questions about the cost of the program.
Artuso told the committee the program had been covered by federal funding last year, but as it’s not currently clear what federal funding is on the way, currently costs are being listed as municipal.
Of the $662,300 projected cost, $66,200 falls to the county, and $596,100 is covered by the city.
Of the total cost, $283,800 is covered in the 2024 budget year, and $378,500 will be required spending in 2025.
Artuso said based on the 2024 federal budget summary that stated there would be $250 million for addressing unsheltered homelessness, cost-matched by the provinces and territories, money is expected from upper levels of government.
“We expect that we will receive our allocation,” Artuso said.
