By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Prompted by this winter’s brutal temperatures, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent is looking at offering warming centres outside of Chatham.
At the Feb. 9 meeting, Chatham-Kent council approved a motion from South Kent Coun. Anthony Ceccacci, directing staff to probe the issue and return with a report later this year.
Currently, Hope Haven on Wellington Street in downtown Chatham is C-K’s lone warming centre. And while transportation is provided for those in outlying communities to travel to Hope Haven, officials said that approach is not very effective.
According to Ceccacci, his motion is pro-active.
“We’ve had a true Canadian winter this year and in rural communities, there’s no place for these people to go and they can end up in business and commercial areas, like vestibules and bank entrances,” the councillor said.
“It would be good to see something done before it becomes a concern in the smaller communities.”
Reach Out Chatham-Kent (R.O.C.K.) Missions executive director Renee Geniole concurred.
“I want to thank Coun. Ceccacci for recognizing the very real need for warming centres in our rural communities in the winter months,” Geniole said in a deputation to council.
According to Geniole, transportation “sounds like a simple answer on paper but it often creates more barriers” than it solves.
“If we want to support residents outside of Chatham, we need broader community-based supports,” she added, as she shared some information about Wallaceburg.
Geniole said the number of people living outdoors has steadily increased over the last year, with daily numbers at the drop-in centre in the Burg ranging from 50 to 75 people.
“We know a significant portion of those people are experiencing houselessness,” she said.
