Work continues one month after encampment closure at Sudbury's Memorial Park

The tents are gone and the debris has been cleaned up at Memorial Park in downtown Greater Sudbury.

For ten months, the municipal space was a tent encampment for the homeless.

But the city wanted to return the park to public use, so on Apr. 1, those individuals had to move on. Most are getting help with housing and are in various stages of the process.

Now that the debris is cleaned up, crews will take the next few months for remediation efforts, said Stefany Mussan, Sudbury's manager of corporate security and bylaw services.

Fencing is up along parts of the site. 

"[The fencing] is used to secure and protect areas of work. And so you can expect it to be in place and potentially be moved around with the work that's happening," she said.

Restoration will take place in phases and will include landscaping, and any repairs needed to equipment or electricity in the park. 

The individuals from the encampment now have housing-based case workers and are working with service providers. They are at various stages of acquiring housing depending on when they connected with their worker.

Raymond Landry, coordinator of the Homelessness Network said the case workers are helping each one be 'paper-ready' to apply for public housing, or to help them with direct contact with landlords or property management companies to find an affordable apartment.

As part of the city's Bridge Housing program, some individuals were put up temporarily in motel rooms when the encampment closed.

"But based on the fact that they already had housing lined up — within a matter of weeks or less than two months," Landry said.

"And yes, there are still a few people in the Bridge housing program that are awaiting housing, and we expect that that housing will occur this month."

There are a number of housing support programs for individuals requiring housing and are operated by various service providers. 

"All of these systems of housing supports and housing opportunities are working together collaboratively on a weekly basis, meeting through the coordinated access system, and accepting referrals from the by-name list," Landry said. 

 "We know week to week among all partners who is prioritized for services, where they're being referred to and why. Then offers are made to those in need."

Affordability and availability are two of the main thrusts we need to address...to help people toward housing.- Raymond Landry, coordinator of Homelessness Network in Sudbury

Landry admits the process to gain permanent housing is slow because of a lack of affordable housing across the city, and a high demand for public housing units. As well, those on a low can't afford private market rent. 

"Affordability and availability are two of the main thrusts that we need to address as a society in today's economy to help people toward housing," Landry said.

New tents being erected elsewhere

With the warmer weather, there's already signs of tent encampments popping up elsewhere.

"We have received reports of additional tents being set up," Mussan said, adding that these have been on both municipal and private property.

 "We are going to address them in the same manner that we addressed the encampment in Memorial Park which would be by engaging with the folks residing in the tents and connecting them with the appropriate social services and housing solutions," she added.

There is also a leadership group working on solutions to homelessness issues, to help prevent further encampments from popping up.