Hamilton’s new outdoor shelter site will be geared to people living in encampments, couples and those with pets, says the social service provider who will be managing operations.
Typically, emergency shelters do not accommodate pets or allow couples or adult family members to bunk together, Katherine Kalinowski, Good Shepherd’s chief operating officer, told CBC Hamilton in an interview this week, as the city continues to prepare the site.
“It’s very, very difficult, especially in the midst of the worst crisis of [someone’s] life, to be separated,” Kalinowski said. “This will give an opportunity in that case for people to share a dwelling and to continue to support each other and live as they choose.”
The outdoor shelter site, which will consist of pre-fabricated tiny homes and larger common spaces, will temporarily house up to 80 people. Some of the cabins began arriving earlier this week.
While the City of Hamilton is in charge of the physical site near Barton Street W., and Caroline Street N., Good Shepherd is responsible for taking care of residents and managing programming.
Good Shepherd was offered that job late last year, Kalinowski said.
People have advocated for a tiny shelter community in Hamilton as one way to help people experiencing homelessness since at least 2022, including one group pitching to fund and run its own.
In Ontario, similar shelter projects based around tiny homes have operated in Kitchener-Waterloo and Kingston. Proponents say the model is a faster and cheaper alternative to building traditional shelters and is safer than tent encampments.
“While the city’s goal remains prioritizing deeply affordable, permanent housing solutions, there are immediate needs that must be addressed,” the City of Hamilton said on its website.
The cost for the project is about $7 million, including setting it up and running it for a year, city staff have estimated.
The outdoor site is one of the ways the city says it is increasing support for those living outside, including opening more indoor shelter beds. Those efforts come as the city is also looking to bring back a bylaw to ban tents in parks, starting in March.
City outreach workers to help identify would-be residents
Good Shepherd, which also operates brick-and-mortar shelters, is “very aware of the depth of the crisis of homelessness in this community,” Kalinowski said.
“Those programs are operating at or above capacity every night of the year at this point.”
With homelessness visible throughout the city, she said, “having yet another response as part of the city’s expanded shelter response is good news.”
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.
The shelter will have staff, including harm reduction workers. Kalinowski said Good Shepherd has hired new staff, and some of its existing employees will work at the new site, too.
The site will be equipped with essentials including a kitchen, washrooms and laundry room. There are plans to add recreation space and an outdoor dining area, too.
“The goal is to create a sense of community for folks,” Kalinowski said, and “a balanced life as much as possible.”
City outreach workers will work with Good Shepherd to identify and invite residents to stay, Kalinowski said, adding people who’d like to live on the site should reach out to a social service provider. Even if the site’s not the right fit for them, she said, they may learn about other services that are.
The city has said the site will be operational by the end of the month. Its website says electrical work is ongoing. Half the cabins were delivered this week city staff said Monday.
Kalinowski said she hopes to move residents in as quickly as is safely possible to get them out of the cold.
Drugs not permitted on site, but users won’t be banned for drug use alone
Some people live in encampments over shelters because they have been banned for using drugs, some encampment residents recently told CBC Hamilton.
While not permitted, Kalinowski said she suspects some future residents will use drugs on the site.
“It is not our practice across Good Shepherd shelters to ask people to leave an emergency shelter setting because they’re found to use drugs,” she said, adding that residents will likely have nowhere else to go.
“What we are [doing] rather than telling people what to do is encouraging and supporting people to be safe, to take care of their health and to look out for each other.”
The hope, Kalinowski said, is for the site to provide people with a safe space where they can “move out of a place of survival,” stabilize and think about what they want to do before moving somewhere more long-term.
Some Hamiltonians have expressed concerns about the new shelter site, including about community safety. Kalinowski said if someone has a problem, Good Shepherd will make sure leaders are available to answer questions and address concerns.
“People have legitimate concerns,” Kalinowski said. “They live in this community and they’re concerned about what’s happening in their community. And the people who will be accessing the program we’re about to launch are also members of our community.”
