The City of Orillia has short-listed two city-owned properties to address homelessness as a part of a new rehousing program with the County of Simcoe.
The temporary Supportive Rapid Rehousing Program is in partnership with the County of Simcoe to address situational homelessness.
On Monday, city councillors narrowed the options to 175 West St. S. and 66 Peter St. S., which were recommended by a working group of four members of Orillia Council.
“Helping our most vulnerable community members is a key priority for Orillia Council. Working with the County of Simcoe to bring the Supportive Rapid Re-housing Program to Orillia will help transform lives of our residents who need support and eases the burden on our shelter system, creating space for those in urgent need,” says Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac. “This partnership represents a significant stride forward in our collective effort to address homelessness in Orillia.”
The county says the locations were decided after careful consideration of public feedback and based on criteria required by the county for funding and operations of the facility.
This project is part of a joint effort to expand the support for and availability of supportive housing in Orillia.
The county says this plan will work to transition individuals who have been identified as situationally homeless into permanent housing.
“This is a great example of a fast, effective and efficient solution that has proven results. We thank the City of Orillia for their support and partnership as we work together to build up the lives of our residents,” says county Warden Basil Clarke.
The final site selection from the two short-listed sites will take place over the next few weeks and will be determined based on the site’s ability to accommodate the facility in time for the 2024 spring season.
In February, the City of Orillia pledged a financial commitment of up to $100,000 for various costs associated with the site development and will waive property taxes on the site for the duration of the program. The funding will come from the Orillia Affordable Housing Reserve.
For the county’s part, it is working to secure a modular temporary housing facility. An operator will be selected to manage this facility and run programs before opening later this month.
Once operational, the program will initially be able to help between 10 and 20 participants within the first six months of the project and up to 20 and 40 participants within the first year.
Over the project’s duration, staff hope to be able to help anywhere from 100 to 200 people within the next five years.
The county says a similar temporary structure has been successfully utilized by the county in the City of Barrie on Rose Street, which has led to 90 per cent of the participants moving to permanent housing in a limited period, which is the ultimate goal of this program.
Staff also say the initiative in Orillia is also expected to create space in the city’s existing shelter system, as the two programs work together to move people from situational homelessness to permanent housing through a system-wide approach.