By Joan Orr M.Sc.
“It’s really hard, you know, when you were used to coming home to a house after work, having dinner around the table with the family. And now this…” She says as tears form and she indicates the park bench that is home base now. “My little sister and I got evicted yesterday. Many of us women on the streets are victims of intimate partner abuse. Some girls go back to their abusers because life is so hard on the streets.”
“Where did you sleep last night?”
“We found a broken tent near the train station that no one was using. We set it up in one of the smaller encampments. Someone downtown was giving out sleeping bags, so we were ok.”
“Where are you sleeping tonight?”
More tears… “I don’t know. The encampments aren’t safe for women – for anyone really. You never know what’s going to happen in the middle of the night. I’ve been assaulted. I worry about my sister. There are too many drugs.”
He’s young (33 he says), good haircut, clean clothes that are suitable for the weather, likes to work and has steady work. What he doesn’t have is stable housing.
“My dad told me – never stop working, always have a job. I tell that to the younger guys. Stay off the drugs, get a job and keep it.”
“Where do you sleep?”
“In my truck, at a job site, in a tent, it depends. I’ve always been an outdoorsman, I have good survival skills and I like to sleep in a tent. It’s hard for most people though. I’ve lived in Collingwood all my life. You used to be able to live here with a decent job in construction. Now rents are insane and there’s almost nothing available. You can pay $2000 a month for a crappy hotel room and that’s it. Not for me, man.”
There’s a group of people that you’ll see on sunny days on a bench on the promenade in the shipyard area. The de facto leader of this group says “I’m not homeless, I’m lucky I have a good place to live. These are my friends. I try to help them out as much as I can. They’re all harmless, they don’t do drugs, they don’t make a mess, they don’t make noise. Many of them do have housing, but it’s precarious. That old guy down there, he’s worked hard all his life, born and raised in Collingwood. Now he’s on disability. He gave money to his roommate for rent and the roommate didn’t pay the rent and they got evicted yesterday by the sheriff. It’s worse for the women. I really worry about the women, especially in winter.”
“What’s a landlord supposed to do? They have expenses. People don’t pay rent, it’s hard to evict tenants who don’t pay rent so the landlords give up and decide to sell. The new owners fix the places up a bit and rent at higher rates and there goes more affordable housing.”
“The thing I hate most is the drug dealers. They’re ruining lives and this town. They get arrested and sent to rehab for a month for free room and board and then they’re back. People get their government sanctioned prescription drugs and sell them, then they buy street drugs. Drugs are a huge problem in this town.”
There are some misconceptions about homelessness in Collingwood. Many people who appear to be unhoused, do in fact have housing, but they could lose it at any moment for one of many reasons. They don’t have extra money and they don’t have a nice place to live that they want to hang out in. Many of the younger guys who hang out around the town do in fact have jobs, but they can’t afford the $2000+ rents that are the norm here or they just can’t find anything available to rent. People aren’t coming here from away to live in tents. Many if not most of the people you see around town are from Collingwood families.
“I grew up here. My husband started hitting me. I had to move out and leave everything behind for my own safety. I have a resume and I’m looking for a job, but it’s hard to get and keep a job when you’re homeless. I call the women’s shelter and the family shelter every day, but they’re always full.”
“Where are you sleeping tonight?”
“I have a tent in one of the encampments with two other girls. We feel safer when there are three of us in a tent, but it’s not a good place to be for women.”
“What are you going to do in the winter?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m fourth generation Collingwood” says another young guy. He’s unassuming, nice looking, but obviously living rough. “My dad and his dad worked at the shipyards. Look at that,” he points to the new condo on the waterfront that the townspeople refer to as ‘the barn’. “They can build fancy condos for rich people, but there’s nothing for poor people. Collingwood used to be a town for regular working people.”
“Where are you sleeping tonight?”
“Don’t worry about us”, he says sadly. “You can’t help us.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP (OR GET HELP)
Call 211 to find out about all available services if you need help.
Check on the current status of all area shelters (at more than 100% capacity at time of writing:
https://gisportal.simcoe.ca/arcgis/apps/sites/#/county-of-simcoe-data-portal
Join the Town of Collingwood Affordable Housing Task Force: https://www.collingwood.ca/council-government/committees-boards/affordable-housing-task-force
Contact Your Elected Representative
Even if you can only do one small thing, you can write to your elected representatives. Letters from constituents make a huge difference, the more the better. You can copy paste and edit the following text to include in your message.
Dear [name of representative]
I’m very concerned about the issues of homelessness, mental health and addiction in my community. Please let me know what you are doing to help solve these problems in both the short and the long term. What progress has the government made in implementing the 74 recommendations made by the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force? I urge you to put high priority on these issues as you continue to advocate on behalf of your constituents. Thanks for your efforts, we appreciate all you are doing for us!
Contact emails:
Federal MP: Terry Dowdall Terry.Dowdall@parl.gc.ca
Provincial MPP: Brian Saunderson Brian.Saunderson@pc.ola.org
Donate Your Time and/or Money to Local Organizations
There are several organizations making a huge difference in our community, you can help by donating money or volunteering your time. Check them out and do what you can, even if it’s only something small.
While this looks like a good list of options, the reality is that the shelters are full almost all the time and not everyone wants to stay in a shelter for various valid reasons.
The Busby Center – offers shelter, outreach, needs assistance and much more. Note that there is no mention of a Collingwood shelter location on their website, but they do operate in Collingwood. This is the only shelter in Collingwood that provides beds for adult men. It has a capacity of 10 and is currently full.
My Friend’s House – offers counselling, transitional shelter, outreach, wellness support, legal counselling and more to abused women and children
Home Horizon – offers transitional housing and homelessness diversion for youth age 16-24. Donate now and your gift will be doubled!
Empower Simcoe – helping people move off the streets and out of emergency shelters into stable housing
Collingwood Food Bank – 100% volunteer organization providing emergency food
Collingwood Pay it Forward Facebook Group – post your stuff to give away to someone who might need it
Mobile Soup Kitchen – grassroots community organization that provides meals at various locations and a mobile soup kitchen. Visit their Facebook Group to see the meal schedule, posting for laundry day twice a month and to donate or receive tents and other items.
County of Simcoe’s supportive rapid rehousing program for people over 55 who require transitional housing. Contact them at srrp@contactcommunityservices.ca.
Collingwood Public Library: A Community Care Worker, Kelly Hoskin is able to provide drop-in support to patrons by providing information and referrals for local resources. You can find Kelly on the second floor next to the computers every Monday between 9am to 3pm. Stop by and see how Kelly can support you! This initiative is made possible with a grant from the County of Simcoe.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LOCAL HOUSING ISSUES
Here are some links that explain more about the causes and effects of the decrease in availability of affordable housing and increase in homelessness in our community.
Simcoe County Homelessness Program
Collingwood Today: On the front lines of the mental-health crisis
Collingwood Today: TBM council declares housing crisis
Collingwood Today: TBM commits $375,000 to address housing crisis
Collingwood Today: COLUMN: Cities becoming ‘scapegoats’ for housing crisis
Collingwood Today: Housing alliance suggests small solution for big housing crisis
Collingwood Today: Man behind Orillia container complex says thinking outside the box crucial to housing crisis
Collingwood Today: Collingwood questions province’s plans to fix housing crisis
Collingwood Today: Federal housing advocate reviewing ‘human rights crisis’ of homeless encampments
TVO Today: Can this Ontario town build housing for workers before it’s too late?
Joan Orr M.Sc. (she/her)
Vice President and Co-founder TAGteach International
