Waterloo region preps overflow shelter beds following $1M motel bill

Motel rooms used to house people who are homeless when shelters were full cost nearly $1 million last winter, according to a report prepared for the Region of Waterloo council.

The report said putting people up in motels "is not a sustainable response," to the lack of housing for them and goes on to say that "to address heightened demand during the winter months, the region has used a temporary shelter overflow response over the past two years."

This year, the region's temporary overflow shelter has been delayed.

It typically opens in early November, but now, regional officials are predicting it won't open until mid-November, due to difficulties finding a location.

The region has set aside $407,000 for this year's temporary overflow shelter, but "we really struggled to find locations this year," said Ryan Pettipiere, director of housing services for the region.

Finding a space with both the correct facilities and a landlord amenable to the project has proven difficult, he said. The region has been looking for a spot since the start of September.

The shelter will be open from November to April but will likely be available far fewer days in November than it has been in previous years. 

People given chairs when beds run out

Two locations and a total of 70 beds are being recommended as a part of the plan for this winter. 

Last year, the Kitchener YWCA on Frederick St. housed 45 overflow beds. 

"We know from experience, and we certainly observed then, that people in Cambridge are quite reluctant to come to Kitchener," said the organization's CEO Elizabeth Clarke, "So, we were not able to serve all the people that we wanted to serve simply because people chose to remain in Cambridge even if it meant they didn't have shelter."

Clarke said that those 45 beds were occupied pretty well every night the overflow centre was open. Some nights they were over capacity, and when beds ran out, people were given chairs. 

The bump up to 70 beds this year isn't a response to a larger projected volume of respite seeker, according to the report.

Based on the numbers he has at this point, Pettipiere believes that the average numbers seen last year, around 45 people each night, will apply this year as well.

He said the extra capacity is a result of the physical space available at the two sites they are looking at.

"It would be fantastic if we didn't need 70 beds for this winter, but we've got the ability to get up to that number and even beyond," he said.