191115 Homelessness Mayors Task The Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg
Homelessness in Tillsonburg
Meeting Notes (Draft)
November 15, 2019
9:00 a.m.
Suite 203, Corporate Office
Attending: Ron Shaw, Stephen Molnar, Andrea Brown, Devin Tamasi, Laura Gibbs,
Donna Acre, Lisa Lanthier, Geno Vanhaelewyn, Steve Richardson, Margaret Puhr
There have been situational changes in our community to which inclusions and
solutions need to be found. There are already conversations at the county level about
homelessness and housing. Each community has specific needs.
Currently there are 10-12 known homeless people in Tillsonburg. According to the
CMHA, currently 4 homeless people registered in caseload in Tillsonburg. 10 people in
temporary care, 223 cases in Tillsonburg in receipt of Ontario Works.
Current shelter situation in the county: In Woodstock all food is donated to the shelter
from restaurants. Once in shelter for the night, the doors are locked for the night and
cannot leave, others must ring bell to be admitted. There are at least 2
workers/volunteers on at all times. Some people are very difficult to house and will no
longer be admitted to hotels due to destructive behaviour. Statistically, the longer
someone stays at shelter, the less chance they will be housed. Some violence can be
expected. Opioids have made the situation worse.
Daytime can be as tough as night, Woodstock has different institutions where people
can go in daytime. If housed in motels, there will be liability for damages on whoever
arranges for the stay at the motel. Local motels have lists of people they won’t house.
Also, there is a transient population which takes resources away from the local
homeless and expanding programs might enable more transients.
In the past the County would provide funds to put people up at motels if homeless, now
they must have a job to qualify. If they are not local, must be sent to Woodstock by taxi.
Majority of homeless won’t leave Tillsonburg as this is their community. Some people
won’t go to shelter at all. Recently Salvation Army had to increase security for the first
time ever due to increased aggression from people coming for help.
The Faith Presbyterian Church would like to provide a shelter facility, however it is not
zoned for this purpose. There are only two facilities in Tillsonburg zoned IN2: hospital
and the community centre. This zoning has very specific criteria for building code and
fire code which would be difficult to apply to a church zoned IN1. In order to re-zone any
building in a residential area, a public process must be followed. If a location is found,
the church is ready to deploy its services.
Community centre could be an interim solution with some added staffing costs. As the
second largest community in the county, it is possible to ask for financial assistance
from the county.
Homelessness in Tillsonburg Page - 2 - of 2
Date: November 15, 2019
Another interim solution proposed might be declaring a weather emergency in
Tillsonburg to overcome some of the issues, if the cold weather alert was activated by
the Southwestern Public Health.
SWPH doesn’t provide direct support, but can help facilitate the system to access the
system of assistance.
Alternatively, the church volunteers are willing to operate a shelter at night elsewhere,
or provide a daytime shelter. Currently, the daytime needs are covered by the
downtown shopping mall as well as other facilities: library, community centre, some
coffee shops where people can go and be warm.
Issues to consider in planning for shelters of any kind:
Zoning
Food safety
Safety of volunteers/training
If there is a shelter, other supports are necessary: addiction, mental health etc.
Next steps:
Research the model used by church assisting migrant workers in season if can
be applied to some extent to the homeless situation.
Matrix of daily resources available in Tillsonburg can be prepared quickly –
County will provide.
Some additional funds can be sent from the county to support overnight motel
stays.
Invite members of TRN.
The situation doesn’t meet criteria of declaring emergency, but some part of
emergency mechanism can potentially be incorporated.
The CAO will take the proposal to SLT to discuss cold weather emergencies to
be triggered for the situation and what resources there are.
Possibility of daytime shelter to be investigated.
Zoning application from the Faith Presbyterian should be submitted asap.
Next meeting: will be called when some information is available from the corporation
and council.
Additional invitations to extend to: Carly Ann Matos – Addiction Services Thames Valley
Joan Clarkson – Food Bank
David Kelly – Pastor
Community health centre – CMHA
Tillsonburg Resource Network group to invite anyone who works with homeless