The temporary homeless shelter currently supporting the unhoused population in South Georgian Bay may face closure in the summer in order to preserve funding for the winter months.
Sara Peddle, executive director of the Busby Centre, which includes a South Georgian Bay outreach and temporary shelter service, confirmed the organization’s board is in a “hurry up and wait” situation when it comes to the local emergency overnight shelter.
Currently, those who find themselves homeless in South Georgian Bay can find an overnight bed at the temporary shelter in an area motel, where they will also get food and access to support services with the goal of finding housing.
Busby gets funding from the County of Simcoe to operate its emergency shelter, but the funding is reserved for the winter months because of the expense of operating a shelter in a temporary location, says Peddle.
The Busby South Georgian Bay board opted to use local fundraising dollars to keep the shelter open for May and June, but July and August are still undecided.
“July and August might be a challenge if we don’t have enough funding to keep it going,” said Peddle in a phone interview with CollingwoodToday. “It’s a more expensive model because we don’t have a permanent solution.”
While numbers fluctuate, Peddle confirmed the local shelter serves about 10 individuals each night, plus families and others through the motel voucher program. They also have beds saved for police referrals that might come in late at night.
She said Busby staff are seeing a rise in the number of seniors who are unhoused, and she’s worried about them having to sleep rough, even in the summer.
Dean Collver, the Town of Collingwood’s director of parks, recreation, and culture, spoke on the issue of homelessness during a recent council committee meeting on June 5, commending Busby South Georgian Bay on the emergency shelter and outreach services they run in Collingwood area.
He said the town’s role has been to support Busby’s work through funding for the emergency shelter and through staff maintaining a good relationship and regular communication with Busby and the other groups working to support those who are unhoused in town. The town’s funding allowed Busby’s emergency shelter to remain open past the winter this year.
“We’ve had a lot of support in the South Georgian Bay area, and we make sure anything that comes in from South Georgian Bay, stays in South Georgian Bay,” said Peddle. “General support from the community is always extremely welcome because then we can continue to do the work we’re doing.”
Collver said some of the next steps for the town could be helping to advocate for funding to improve conditions in South Georgian Bay for the unhoused, and that would include a permanent shelter location.
Peddle said Busby is still working with community partners on a permanent solution that is tailor-made to the communities of South Georgian Bay.
“We always want to focus on it being a housing solution, but we know there will always be emergencies we are trying to address,” said Peddle.
She noted there is a “perfect storm” of crises in mental health, addiction, housing, and economy, that are coming together to form the complex context for homelessness in the region and its increase since the start of the COVID pandemic.
The County of Simcoe is the level of government tasked with funding homeless shelters and social housing, and receives money from the provincial government to distribute among its member communities.
In April, the county received news it would be getting a $21 million increase to its annual provincial funding for homelessness prevention.
Peddle said she’s hoping the funding will bring more solutions to the area, including for South Georgian Bay.
The county issued a press release this week announcing its 10-point strategy for preventing homelessness across the region, a plan that has been supported by the County of Simcoe council’s committee of the whole.
The strategy, which is available on the county’s website here, is as follows:
- Rent subsidies for individuals and families from $600 to $800
- convert existing community housing into “creative supportive housing programs”
- Offer storage units for people who are homeless so they have a safe place to store belongings while they are staying in a shelter or using other services
- Enhancing mobile outreach services
- Increasing affordable housing stock, supportive housing units, and lifting the funding freeze on the domiciliary care program
- Implement a centralized intake system available after hours for services
- Increase funding to the shelter system and support the temporary shelter at Rose Street (Barrie)
- Doubling the grant limits for families in the housing retention funding program
- Address repairs and maintenance needs through the retrofits and upgrades program
- Find new capital and operating opportunities to increase housing
Busby South Georgian Bay welcomes funding and volunteer support. You can reach out or donate online via busbycentre.ca, or by calling 705-739-6916.
The Busby Centre’s 24-hour crisis line is 705-828-3795.
