The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is planning to hold two public meetings to address community concerns over a new temporary homeless shelter in Chatham.
The new shelter is slated to open at the Chatham Banquet Hall and Conference Centre on Merritt Avenue near Richmond Street, however, neighbours have expressed several concerns. While residents said they are sympathetic to the plight of the homeless in Chatham-Kent, they are concerned about possible drug abuse and mental health issues, especially with the shelter opening within close proximity to Winston Churchill Public Elementary School.
Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire said the municipality has received complaints from several residents.
"We certainly are aware that there's been lots of concerns raised from local residents and business owners and we would have expected, no matter where the shelter location was selected, you'd get the same type of concerns being expressed," said Shropshire. "Chatham-Kent has an existing policy that is housing first. This is only as a result of the COVID situation and having a 300 per cent increase in homelessness that we've literally filled all the motel rooms."
Shropshire said there's an urgency to resolve the concerns and promised it's not a permanent shelter.
He added that municipal staff will be attending two public meetings to answer questions and hopefully ensure residents feel more comfortable about the shelter opening nearby.
Shropshire said dates and times for the meetings should be in place sometime during the coming week. He added work is underway to get the shelter ready and the municipality wants it to open as soon as possible.
Municipal Director of Employment and Social Services Polly Smith said the social services team will be implementing several measures to help the shelter blend into the community. She added that discussions will also be held with the school board to encourage a healthy integration into the neighbourhood.
The municipality is currently using the John D. Bradley Convention Centre as a temporary shelter during the pandemic.
In February and March of this year, Employment and Social Services staff polled the hotels and motels in an attempt to build capacity, according to Smith.
"We have used these accommodations as emergency shelter/transitional housing for many years. With the pandemic we found that there was suddenly a lack of rooms available as more people moved out of other crowded accommodations to motels and some rooms were reserved for migrant workers who need to isolate upon arrival," added Smith. "That led our division to make the decision to open up a temporary shelter. We continue to use motels and hotels for some individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness until we can help them find permanent accommodations."
Smith said plans are still being developed but the goal is to move out of the Bradley Centre and into the temporary shelter on Merritt within a couple of weeks.