Welland Tribune Article by Dave Johnson, Reporter
December 20, 2024
At a cost of nearly $3 million to build, and millions of dollars more to operate, what is to be a temporary emergency homeless shelter in the south end of Welland will be opened by Niagara Region Monday.
Niagara Regional Housing (NRH) is leasing land on Ontario Road from the city for $2 a year for five years, with the option of five one-year extensions.
Samantha Hill, operations manager for The Hope Centre, expects the 50-bed shelter to fill up quickly. She said unhoused individuals now staying at the Travelodge hotel on Niagara Street in the city’s north end will be moved to the shelter.
“NASO (Niagara Assertive Street Outreach) will pull from the encampments and get people here. We’ll be quite full once we do that.”
The Hope Centre will operate the shelter for NRH, at an annual cost of $1 million.
The facility consists of four portable units on 0.4 hectares of land east of Rose City Plaza and in front of Woodrose Co-Op.
The shelter cost $2.84 million to erect — $1 million for modular housing units and $1.84 million for site servicing, preparation, and furniture and fixtures.
“It’s going to better support the population in Welland who are in need,” Hill said. “Being at the Travelodge, we’re thankful for our time there, it is just not the best setup for what we are trying to do with our folks.
“This is going to be a better sense of community for everybody and give better opportunities for searching for housing, and we can support way more people, which is exciting.”
Hill said the shelter is closer to services accessed by unhoused people, including The Hope Centre on King Street and Job Gym downtown.
“We’re planning to bring in partners, including Positive Living Niagara, REACH Niagara and Ontario Works.”
As a housing-focused shelter, staff will first work with a person to see if there are opportunities to stay with family or friends or another way to be housed.
“If it turns out there’s nowhere for them to go, then we’ll bring them in and start working right away on the next steps.”
Hill said it could be something like getting personal identification.
“Some people don’t have ID, and you don’t stand a chance to rent a place if you don’t have it and can’t show who you are.”
Helping a person with their taxes, not always a priority for the unhoused, is something else staff could help with. The housing search would follow.
“Our staff are great at seeking out affordable units, even though there’s not very many. We do our best to find what we can and work with the landlords in Welland.”
Hill said everyone is welcome at the shelter, and The Hope Centre anticipates it will be working with people struggling with mental health and addiction issues.
“We’re here to support them through the agencies we’ll bring in. If we’re not the experts, we’ll find the experts.”
She said the only screening to be done at the shelter is ensuring the unhoused are from south Niagara, which is the focus of the facility, including Welland, Port Colborne, Wainfleet and Fort Erie.
The site, surrounded by a nearly three-metre-tall fence with security cameras inside and outside, will be staffed 24-7.
A cook will make three meals a day. Hill said one of the best ways to work with people who will be at the shelter is “through their bellies.”
Moving the unhoused from the Travelodge will free up eight rooms for unhoused families, said Cathy Cousins, Niagara Region’s director of homelessness services.
Cousins said that number can be expanded if needed thanks to a good working relationship with the owner. The Ontario Road shelter, she added, is not meant for families.
“Our housing division probably did more of the heavy lifting on this (project). They pulled off what I would consider a small miracle between Aug. 29 and today,” said Cousins.
Welland city council approved the land lease in early August; regional council gave its approval to the project at the end of the month.
The portable units came from Alberta and were installed on the site after servicing.
Cousins said to prepare Hope Centre staff for Monday, policies, procedures, shift schedules and logistics already established at two Region shelters were shared.
She said staff from The Hope Centre have been shadowing regional staff at the Riordon Street shelter in St. Catharines and the Summer Street shelter in Niagara Falls to understand the movement of people throughout the day and night.
There was also training on technology used to track unhoused residents, which looks at what services have been offered and what needs to be offered.
The Hope Centre chief executive officer Jon Braithwaite joined police and fire officials and city councillors during a tour of the facility Friday.
He said he understands there are neighbouring residents upset with the shelter’s location, which was not a decision of The Hope Centre.
“We’re here to operate it and be good neighbours.”
Braithwaite said a neighbourhood relations committee will meet monthly, during which concerns can be brought forward.