By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Chatham-Kent council has agreed to help the unhoused stay warm this winter.
At the Dec. 9 council meeting, elected officials approved a request from Hope Haven seeking $65,000 to keep the shelter open overnight until March 1.
A handful of heartrending deputations were made at the outset of the meeting, imploring council to support the request.
One came from Julie McLachlin, a woman living in her car with no family, who told council keeping the centre open at night may mean the difference between “life or death.”
McLachlin asked councillors to close their eyes and imagine having no food, no warm clothes, no money, nothing to drink, no shelter, noting the wind and cold can make “every inch of your body hurt” and hypothermia is a real possibility for those sleeping outdoors.
The ability to stay warm is a “basic human right,” she added, stressing the fact the unhoused are not “garbage” or “throwaways.”
Reach Out Chatham-Kent (R.O.C.K.) Missions executive director Renee Geniole, who spoke in support of the request, said keeping Hope Haven open during cold winter nights is the “best option to potentially save lives,” by lending a hand to some of “our hardest to serve citizens.
“This is a temporary solution that takes some pressure off and allows people a lifeline that we weren’t going to be able to offer before now,” she said.
Chatham Coun. Alysson Storey, who put the motion forward following a recommendation from C-K housing services program manager Kim Crew, said the deputations “really brought home” the issues facing Chatham-Kent.
In her work representing C-K with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Storey said every community in Canada is facing the same “intractable” problem and all are “desperate” to fix it.
“We need more support from the federal government and from the province,” she said, adding she appreciated the “strength and courage” of the people who made deputations.
Chatham Coun. Amy Finn, who seconded the motion, echoed Storey’s comments.
Finn, who visited Hope Haven during its first week of being open overnight, said people are very appreciative they have a place to come in from the cold.
According to Jodi Guilmette, Chatham-Kent’s general manager health and human services, the funding boost for Hope Haven will be covered entirely by the province though its Homeless Prevention Program budget.
Guilmette said the money is part of base funding it receives from the government, but there has been no dollar increase even though the need continues to rise.
According to an administrative report, there are currently eight to 10 encampments of the unhoused located in the municipality.
Hope Haven is open daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and nightly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The overnight service began Dec. 1 with workers seeing between 40 to 50 people per night.
