The idea of a designated tent encampment for Sarnia's homeless is getting a thumbs down from the county's social services department.
The concept was first introduced by City/County Councillor Chrissy McRoberts during the city's council meeting last month. Council passed a motion to have city staff investigate the possibility of a designated area for a tent encampment
"The way I'm reading all these reports is that they just don't want to touch this item with the tent city," said McRoberts.
During Wednesday's county committee meeting in Wyoming, Lambton's General Manager of Social Services Valerie Colasanti said it's not a good idea.
"I think the weather would be very cold," said Colasanti. "There are all kinds of issues that happen with an encampment including violence and sexual assault, people trying to stay warm, we could have fires."
She said for those reasons, they certainly wouldn't sanction an encampment.
"We will continue to work with anyone who is outside and who is staying in a tent," said Colasanti. "We're going to continue to try to encourage them to come into our low-barrier shelter. There may be some people who choose not to, but at this time we're recommending against a sanctioned encampment."
The county's 28 bed Out of the Cold emergency shelter, operated by the Inn of the Good Shepherd, opened on October 23 at the former Laurel-Lea St. Matthew's Presbyterian Church.
In September, the county's outreach team interacted with 66 individuals who had slept outside on at least one occasion that month.