Why Chatham-Kent, Ont., has seen a 171% surge in its homeless population since 2019

Chatham-Kent has seen a huge increase in its homeless population over the past five years.

The southwestern Ontario municipality says there's been a 171 per cent spike since 2019. 

Like other municipalities in the province, Chatham-Kent is at a "tipping point," according to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

In December 2019, officials knew of 84 people experiencing homelessness. As of this month, that number has grown to 228. The number is an attempt to encapsulate all of the people in encampments, utilizing shelters and couch surfing while accessing social support services.

The largest proportion of homeless people in Chatham-Kent are men between the ages of 30 and 45.

As many as 100 people are currently in encampments, according to the municipality, spread across 10 known locations. The encampment numbers fluctuate frequently. They are mainly in Chatham, with smaller ones popping up in nearby Wallaceburg and Blenheim. 

There are 44 municipally-run shelter beds in Chatham-Kent. Hope Haven, a local non-profit drop-in centre, has room for about 50 people per night for warming services. Victoria Park Place has capacity for 38 clients but will close this spring. A string of tiny cabins will open to fill its place and provide roughly the same number of beds that Victoria Place did.

The director of housing services for the municipality says roughly 95 per cent of people who are currently homeless in Chatham-Kent were born and raised there — and that most of the new faces came to the area before the housing market collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a lot of evictions. 

Josh Myers says he's unsurprised at the big increase based on what he's been seeing for the last few years.

"I very vividly recall throughout the pandemic locally sounding the alarm," he said, calling the work his team does "largely emergency-based."

"Every year we're having positive success in helping people get back into housing, and at the same time we're seeing more people — and new people — falling into homelessness."

According to Myers, over the past 18 months it's been taking longer for people to find housing again, meaning they're remaining without a home for longer periods of time.

He pointed to Ontario Works, saying social assistance cheques haven't increased since 2019, remaining at $733. In comparison, he says, rent in Chatham-Kent has more than doubled — exceeding levels of $1,700 per month.

"The math doesn't work," said Myers. 

"It's often a bottleneck [in continuum housing] in that we have staff that are doing their best to help but if they don't have the resources to afford rent, there's not a whole lot they can do. And that's not just for bachelor part apartments." 

'Shocking' statistics

A municipal councillor in Chatham-Kent says it was "shocking" to see how much the homeless population has grown.

Alysson Storey represents Ward 6 in the city of Chatham, where the majority of people experiencing homelessness are located.  

"It's just a huge alarm bell, red flag, you name it, that this has to be addressed," she said.

"If you've spent most of your time in Chatham, even the last couple of years, this was not as visually obvious. This graphic evidence of people living outdoors in tents … that is something that we have not seen on this scale in Chatham-Kent ever."

Storey points to the province in hopes of more support.

"We [municipalities] can't do this on our own. We need help and we don't need punitive measures for homelessness. We don't need to criminalize people in crisis."

Storey says the issue requires a "substantial" amount of funding.

"Everyone's trying, but it feels like we're not making any headway," she added, pointing to factors including mental health, addictions, job losses, cost of living, marriage and family dissolution.

"What fixes homelessness are homes … supportive housing and transitional housing, which is really outside of the emergency shelter system."

The waitlist for affordable community housing is also now at a record high of 1,352 households in Chatham-Kent, with an estimated wait time of 10 years.

"How do you tell a senior in their 70s they have to wait ten years for an affordable housing option?," Storey said. "It's unethical to me. It's immoral that we have people that we cannot house in our communities." 

And if the affordable housing shortage isn't addressed, according to Storey, the problem is going to get "worse exponentially."

'Not just a housing crisis'

Myers say homelessness is the priority in all of the conversations he's having with local health, law enforcement, justice and children's services. However, he adds, more collaboration is still needed.

"We recognize it is impacting all of these other systems. We can't just build our way out of this. This is not just a housing crisis. This is also a health care crisis. And it's certainly having an impact on our emergency rooms today."

According to Myers, housing alone will not end homelessness in any Canadian community and it's critical for municipalities to come together and rethink how it's being addressed.

"It is not the same, at all, as it was in 2015 or 2010."