“We want to try and find any creative solution we can come up with in order to have beds available for when people are on the streets and they need somewhere to go,” Wagenaar said.īut the agency is losing ground. With the pandemic-inspired eviction freeze at an end, increased demand for shelter space has created a sense of urgency to get people into stable housing. Instead, Homeless Prevention Services manages 17 beds split between a Jarvis motel and an affordable housing building in Simcoe.Ī census conducted by Homeless Prevention Services staff last month counted more than 80 people living on the streets, and that number is almost certainly low, said Nikki Wagenaar, the agency’s intake and diversion worker. There is no dedicated homeless shelter in the two counties. White and MacNeil are among a growing homeless population in Haldimand-Norfolk that on a given night exceeds the number of shelter beds available. I slept here at the library for a whole week straight,” White said. “It can be very nasty, especially in winter. Jamie White, who was sleeping in his wheelchair when Arnal came upon him, is grateful for the respite from the elements. “Getting them into a motel is great, but they need real treatment and support to get well and get off the street.” “The next morning, I woke up to non-stop support,” she said, describing a rush of donated meals and winter gear, and enough cash to keep five people in the motel for 10 days. With the three settled in for the night, Arnal posted a video to Facebook asking for help. She drove by the trio around midnight and stopped to ask what she could do to help.Ĭoffee and doughnuts turned into phone calls to local motels until she found them a room. MacNeil and two others who were huddled under blankets on the town hall steps now have temporary shelter thanks to donations collected by Waterford resident Leanne Arnal. “Two years ago I was in shelters in Brantford, but ever since then I’ve been on the streets,” he said. Before he was picked up outside Simcoe town hall during a snowstorm and driven to a motel last Saturday night, James MacNeil said it had been years since he slept in a bed.
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