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230906 Homelessness Working Group NotesThe Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg Mayor’s Working Group on Homelessness September 6, 2023 1:00 p.m. Council Chambers NOTES Attendance: Mayor Deb Gilvesy, Kelly Black, Director of Human Services, Oxford County; Geno Vanhaelewyn, Chief Building Official; Councillor Bob Parsons; Larry Scanlan, Chair, Police Services Board; Sgt. Mike Salminen, OPP; Julie Columbus, Director of Recreation, Culture and Parks; Teresa Martins, Oxford Ontario Health Team; Kyle Pratt, Chief Administrative Officer; Mark Renaud, Executive Director, BIA; Susan Forbes, Regional Manager for CMHA; Colleen Pepper, Communications Officer; Lisa Marie Williams, CEO Oxford County Library, Stephanie Ellens-Clark, Executive Director of the Social Planning Council Oxford; Shawn Shapton, Executive Director of Operation Sharing; Laura Pickersgill, Executive Assistant Mayor Gilvesy provided an overview of the session held at the AMO Conference regarding homelessness. The City of Woodstock is cleaning up active and abandoned encampments using a tag system. Grande Prairie, Alberta has been giving 24 hours- notice to evacuate and cleanup encampments and if individuals remain they are being arrested for trespassing. Some municipalities are banning encampments that are located within certain distances from parks and schools for example. Medicine Hat, Alberta was the first City to become zero poverty (meaning less than three homeless individuals consistently in three months). They made it illegal to camp in public parks and are issuing $50 fines. There was a discussion regarding the concerns of individuals staying in Bert Newman Park and Memorial Park. Individuals are leaving behind drug paraphernalia, feces, and garbage, thus making it unsafe for public use. The Town will be designating these facilities as rentable which will allow trespassing fines to be given. Bert Newman Park is being locked at this time to protect the safety of others. There is a parks by-law completed in draft form that is currently under review by the by- law department. There will be a public consultation then it will come to Council for review and adoption. There was a question as to whether the OPP can enforce this by- law. This was deferred to the Detachment Commander, however, it was noted that the Town would have to enter into an agreement with the OPP to enforce that by-law. Oxford County does have a binding list that outlines individuals who have consented to be on the list that are currently homeless. Once individuals move into supports or housing they are removed from the list. Its’ purpose is to help quantify data to assist with policy and decision making. There were 89 people on the list recently which includes anyone accessing transitional housing. The Mayor has contact information for the library and BIA for a toolkit for dealing with homelessness. There was a discussion that there is more than just a housing crisis going on and that there needs to be wrap around supports for drug addiction and mental health. Statistics are showing that mobile outreach is not working as well and that hub-type, one-stop shop environments need to be established in communities. The Oxford County Housing Action Collaboration is looking at having high acuity collaborative housing with more intense supports similar to the St. Thomas In Dwell model. It was discussed how it is difficult to track quantifiable data related to the overall costs of dealing with homelessness. The City of Woodstock notes a $1 million cost related to homelessness per year. Communal living (shelter facilities) are important to have and ensuring quality staff members are present is key. There are challenges with the community understanding the situation and how it’s not that simple to mitigate, for example there are no local crisis beds. Legislation has made it more difficult to move people along from public property. To access supports, you need to be a County resident. Currently in the encampments, about 80% of people are from Oxford County with 20% who are not. The Woodstock day shelter had to be temporarily shut down due to violence concerns. This ongoing issues needs to be mitigated using a unique, Oxford-County born approach. There was a discussion regarding advocacy for provincial/federal policies such as rent control. Individuals tend to choose to live in encampments since they don’t have much control over anything else in their lives. Pallet homes are not the answer. Oxford County is working with Salvation Army to create a local daytime hub to provide another venue to access for supports. It was suggested that affordable housing really is not that affordable and it may be better for the Town to put money towards transitional housing. The Province will be changing the definition of affordable housing to be tied with income. Kelly will look into how the local group homes are funded and if they are receiving care or not. Geno will look into handling these homes through the business licensing process. There was a discussion about the federal government helping to build more homes and building upon existing assets. Mayor Gilvesy will send a letter to MP Khanna regarding this discussion.