Central Huron Mayor, Jim Ginn, says councillors are looking for options for more permanent housing for homeless people.
Ginn says long term solutions have to involve housing as well as support that will enable people to stay housed. Ginn says they've asked staff to come back with some different options.
“We asked our staff to come back with some different options as to what that might look like and we don't know if it's a new building or finding a building that we can renovate, like a hotel or something like that that might serve that purpose as well.”
Ginn says the consensus among councillors seems to be that having homeless in something like an apartment building or renovated hotel has advantages over several small houses or trailers because the support people need is right there for them.
“If we can have staff on site, so that if a need arises, they can be right in the building, whereas if we house them in a tiny home or a trailer or something different, they wouldn't be in the same building and they wouldn't be able to offer the support that might be needed at that time.”
He adds, the other consideration for councillors is cost, so they want to have a rough idea of the cost of building a new apartment building compared to renovating an older building. Ginn says there's no timeline, but it will take time to make a decision so it won't likely happen for at least another year.
