After first effort to build an emergency shelter in Dryden, Ont. falls short, community group tries again

Plans for a shelter in Dryden are once again in development, after a previous attempt to ease an ongoing homelessness crisis in the northwestern Ontario city flopped.

Last year, plans were made to launch a temporary emergency shelter at the Dryden Full Gospel Church, operating three days a week, for three months. However, the project fell through, partially due to a lack of support from the community. 

Dryden, which is Ontario's smallest city, has been dealing with addiction and homelessness crises for at least a year, but lacks key resources to deal with the issues. Some residents have taken it into their own hands, supporting people who need it.  

Now, a group of community members is looking at forming a not-for-profit, which would allow them to pick up the former shelter plans and convince neighbours that a shelter will benefit the city. 

"There's a lot of ingrained beliefs that are wrong or just misunderstood … and so the campaign is about bringing that awareness," said Henry Wall, the CAO of the Kenora District Services Board. 

Wall couldn't share the names of individuals involved – citing confidentiality reasons – but said progress has been made and a couple locations have been identified. Members hope to move forward with their vision early this year.

The city's newly-elected mayor, Jack Harrison, told CBC News he would support the shelter.

While acknowledging the project has taken time, Wall said it's important to engage the broader community in developing the emergency shelter, so people who use the service are not left feeling like outcasts. 

"There's a tremendous amount of injustice that's done to people who are experiencing homelessness, and the stigma and the judgment that they face very often by the community itself," Wall said. 

He also added that looking at emergency beds specifically for youth is important, and reiterated the need to better understand the underlying issues affecting those on the streets.

"We can't have that discussion without also talking about what are treatment options for individuals that might be experiencing chronic homelessness due to mental illness or an addiction disease," Wall said.

The Kenora District Services Board holds regular stakeholder meetings, open to anyone who is interested, to discuss the community's concerns and ways to address them.  

Meanwhile, efforts are underway to keep better track of the Kenora District's homeless population in 2023, which covers several communities and First Nations, including Dryden. 

The Kenora District Services Board marked the one-year anniversary of its "by-name list" on Dec. 15. The list aims to keep in contact with people experiencing homelessness as they access different services in the community.

It's a way for organizations to work together to support individuals by knowing their name and their story, and keeping track of their needs, which is what the board's chief administrative officer, Henry Wall, called co-ordinated access.

"It really is about bringing better co-ordination behind the scenes when it comes to connecting people with supports and services," said Wall. "I think really, this is the future if we're serious about ending chronic homelessness."

The list also helps create a better understanding of the reasons why people become homeless. For example, the board is seeing people age out of the child welfare system and into the homeless population, said Wall. It also poses questions about why individuals choose some supports over others. 

Since its launch, the by-name list has identified 124 people in need of housing. Of these, six individuals on the list have been housed.

However, research indicates the actual numbers of homeless and precariously housed people are much greater. Especially in rural and remote areas, homelessness is often hidden, and some people are hesitant to ask for help for fear of discrimination.

Part of the Kenora District Services Board's strategy has been public education about what it means to be homeless and what factors contribute to it, which sparked its No Place Like a Home campaign.

Homelessness count

In March 2021, Ontario's minister of municipal affairs and housing mandated service managers, like the Kenora District Services Board, to conduct a homelessness survey using a point-in-time count method. 

The Kenora District encompasses between 65,500 to 75,000 people across 407,000 kilometres. It consists of nine municipalities, four unincorporated territories and 40 First Nations communities, and many small villages in vast rural and remote areas.

The October 2021 homelessness count observed 221 people as homeless, 118 of which completed surveys about their situations. Among the top reasons given in the survey for why they were homeless were health, addiction or substance use, and conflict with a spouse, partner, parent or guardian.

More than half of the respondents had been in foster care or a group home, and more than 88 per cent of those surveyed were Indigenous.

The waiting list for housing more than tripled over the last deacade – a 346 increase per cent between 2011 and 2021, according to the homelessness enumeration report.

While this study captured a moment in time, the by-name list allows the region to collect ongoing data about its most vulnerable individuals, Wall explained.

"I think that's a much more responsive system than doing it every couple of years," he said. "It allows us to actually have a tailored support model for an individual that is presenting at one of the emergency shelters." 

There's also the board's Housing Solutions Network. Wall said the "severe lack of resources in the north" means service providers need to be smart and strategic about how to use the tools they have most effectively. The network aims to bring people together with different areas of expertise and troubleshoot a plan to achieve this.

Mayor says detox centre is needed

Jack Harrison, born and raised in Dryden, is the city's new mayor. One of his commitments for his four-year term is to attract more developers to increase the housing stock.

There have been strides made in the past year; two new buildings brought 48 new units to seniors, with a third building potentially planned to create 24 more. There are also 40 units planned under the Kenora District Services Board on the way this year, he said. These builds will free up space for others to move into the tight housing market – though more multi-residential buildings are severely needed.

As businesses continue to face staffing shortages, the city needs to look at creating more affordable, high-density housing so service workers can afford to move to the city, said Harrison. 

While Harrison's in support of Dryden moving forward with an emergency shelter, he said the city must also look at the bigger issues of addiction and mental health that are contributing to the need for these services in the first place.

He would also like to see a detox centre built in Dryden.

"If somebody [is] trapped in that lifestyle and wants to get free…they have to go somewhere else – and most times there's a waiting list," he said.

Looking at the stigma attached to homelessness is also important, and Harrison said he is working to learn more about these issues as he takes on his first year at the helm of city council.