By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
Chatham-Kent Council approved a motion calling for the municipality to consider establishing overnight warming centres in outlying communities during extreme cold weather.
Ward 2 Councillor Anthony Ceccacci’s motion was approved in the consent agenda at the Feb. 9 Council meeting.
The only overnight warming centre in Chatham-Kent is Hope Haven in downtown Chatham.
But with homelessness now being experienced in other communities, Ceccacci wants the municipality and its community agency partners to identify the need for warming centres beyond Chatham.
“What I want to do is to start looking at this proactively, for one, to keep the vulnerable safe,” Ceccacci said. “And two, to prevent our storefronts and businesses from having to experience the challenges that come with the unhoused.”
Ceccacci said he was prompted to bring his motion forward after recently being notified of homeless people sleeping in doorways of downtown businesses in Blenheim during extreme winter conditions.
There is also an incidence of homelessness in Ridgetown, as a family was reportedly living out of their vehicle.
Businesses in downtown Chatham have long been experiencing issues with homeless people sleeping in their doorways and entrances, leaving behind discarded items and property being damaged, including incidents of bonfires being set.
The Chatham-Kent Police, who now patrol the downtown core on foot, recently had to evict a person who managed to get inside the locked, enclosed area of a bank’s ATM vestibule.
Ceccacci has spoken with councillors and residents in other wards and has discovered that other communities are experiencing homeless people seeking shelter in downtown areas during this almost month-long frigid spell.
Municipal libraries are used to provide shelter during regular operating hours in the winter and to serve as cooling centres during extreme heat in the summer.
But there are no overnight facilities in outlying communities during extreme weather conditions.
The municipality provides transportation through CK Transit to bring vulnerable people from other communities to Chatham so they can go to Hope Haven, but Ceccacci said uptake has been low.
Administration was directed to investigate and identify the need for warming centres in communities beyond central Chatham for days of extreme cold weather.
Administration will bring a report back to Council so partnerships can be explored in advance of extreme weather conditions.
