Huron County is updating it's 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan and is looking for more feedback as part of that process.
The County's first-ever Housing and Homelessness Plan spanned from 2014 to 2024. Housing Services Manager Jayme Koskamp said so much has changed over that time.
"Prior to the original plan, a homelessness team didn't exist," she said. "Now, not only do we have a team, we've also built a coordinated access system and we've strengthened partnerships across the board, to create a more people-centered approach."
Since the first plan was established, she said the team and its community partners have created transitional and supportive housing options, improved the reliability of data collection, grew the Out of the Cold program into the Bridge Housing Program and brought in three new affordable housing builds to Huron.
Now the plan needs an update as the County tries to strengthen the housing system over the next decade. Koskamp said there was some potentially going to be additional directions coming down from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing which delayed the rollout of updating the plan.
She says the latest version will look to build on previous successes while addressing the growing and diverse needs for affordable housing.
"Our hope is that we can work in greater coordination with healthcare providers, so we can develop more supportive housing options," said Koskamp. "We're finding not only do we need housing, we need supportive housing. We also need to have other options so we can rapidly house our homelessness with permanent options, so the length of time our homeless population is homeless is brief and not recurring."
While the housing team has improved its data collection and outreach in recent years, they are still looking for feedback to gain a deeper understanding of the housing needs of Huron County.
"This plan isn't only for those that are experiencing homeless, but it's for those that are precariously housed and what is impacting their ability to maintain housing? We're also looking to better understand the challenges for those that are tasked with the creation of those new affordable housing units, so we're asking developers and planners to contribute as well to address some of the challenges that they're experiencing," said Koskamp.
The housing team has already reached out to organizations and those with lived experience with homelessness that it would like to take part in focus groups in the coming weeks. Koskamp said the public will have a chance to have its say in the plan by taking part in an online survey.
"We know that the plan needs to reflect the needs of everyone in Huron County," she said. "It is our hope that by using different engagement tools, that we're casting a wide enough net to hear from as many voices as possible."
The online survey is available until December 24.
Afterwards, staff will work with Vink Consulting and J Consulting Group to develop strategies based on the feedback.
Koskamp says the finalized plan should go before County council in April or May, ahead of the Ministry deadline of May 31, 2026.
