Is there room for 'A Better Tent City' in Windsor? Advocates look to Kitchener's example

Tiny homes have had a big impact on the homeless community in Kitchener, according to those behind a project calledA Better Tent City.

In March 2020, organizers began creating a small row of insulated cabins for people experiencing homelessness in Kitchener,providing a warm alternative to living on the street. Now some local advocates are wondering: could itwork in Windsor?

"Why can't we buy a nice piece of land the city probably has access to some...and put these tiny homes in place?" said Christine Wilson-Furlonger from Street Help in Windsor.

Wilson-Furlonger has worked over 20 years at Street Help, a drop-in centre that provides daily food parcels and a judgment-free zone for those experiencing homelessness.

"These tiny homes, they're not going to be anything grandiose or anything that a lot of other people would take pride in living in but for a homeless couple, it would be a perfect accommodation," she said.

In Kitchener, organizers say the cabins at A Better Tent City have offered residents a community and a place to call home, with shared access to two onsite washrooms and showers, and a laundry room.

Jeff Willmer is the co-founder of A Better Tent City. Hesaid it's made a huge difference for the people living there.

"Just seeing the change in the residents from the time they arrived ... to now, how much healthier they are in every way within a few days, or even more so after a couple weeks and a couple months. They are much more like themselves," he said.

Co-founder Nadine Green saidit won't take much to replicate the project in Windsor.

"All you need isa parking lot. Maybe start from maybe three, four or five homes and move to a bigger parking lot. And that's what we did when we started. Just start small and grow. Now we have 42 homes."

Willmer and Green said each insulated cabin costs $5,000 to make.

When approached by CBC News, manyexperiencing homelessness in Windsor-Essex said the idea sounded appealing,as the region's waitlist for affordable housing has more than doubled since 2016. The people who spoke to CBC News saidthat an insulated cabin seemed like a much better alternative to sleeping on the street, especially when it's cold.

Windsorites weigh in on the idea of living in an insulated cabin

3 years ago

Duration 0:46

Robert Kerr, Amina Khiat and Andrew Arsenault are all currently homeless in Windsor. When asked, they said living in insulated cabins sounds like a much better alternative to sleeping on the street, especially when it's cold.

Ward 3 Coun.Rino Bortolin disagrees. He oversees the downtown area, where homelessness is most visible in the city.

He said without wraparound services to help with finding jobs or dealing with addictions, tiny homes would just be a Band-Aid solution for the cold weather.

"Why are we putting them in this...modified hut, so to speak, versus putting them into a unit in an apartment?" he said. "There's also...a certain level of dignity and respect that everybody should be looking to achieve a home or an apartment. And so saying that these tiny homes or these huts are OK for for homeless people is also a way of accepting the problem."

The tiny home collective in Kitchener has already inspired other cities like Kingston and Woodstock to create something similar in their own backyard.

Advocates in those cities have said it has already proven to be a cost effective way to house people who are homeless or on a budget.