Kingston, Ont. to provide homeless population with motel rooms in winter

With winter fast approaching, the colder months mean tougher living conditions for those experiencing homelessness in Kingston, Ont.

Barry Badour says getting by without a permanent home isn’t ever easy, but winter will be a lot more difficult.

“Because if you don’t have a place to actually call your own, or a place to actually be warm, it’s cold out here in the wintertime. I pretty near froze a couple times,” explained Badour.

In an effort to combat homelessness, the city of Kingston says it is working to find some solutions to help those who are unhoused get through the winter.

Long-term solutions target more supportive, affordable housing, but since winter won’t wait, temporary and immediate solutions are being explored.

“We need to look at some shorter-term, faster options as well. New housing takes a long time to build, so we need to know ‘what’s the strategy until then?'” said Kingston’s city mayor, Bryan Paterson.

The mayor says short-term solutions to find temporary shelter will be discussed in the next council meeting.

“When it comes to shelter space capacity, we’re working with local hotel and motels about options for overflow. So if our shelters are full, it could be where we can direct people,” said Paterson.

Last year, Badour says he spent time in one of the overflow motels that the mayor referenced, and says that he enjoyed having his own space that was safe from the elements.

“The option of the motel, I think that’s a good idea as well. Last year I spent some time, with Chrystal’s crew, at one of the motels. And actually, I found it very helpful,” said Badour.

According to the latest report, the city’s emergency shelters are at 100 per cent capacity, meaning more spaces are needed to accommodate the city’s homeless population already – even before the cold temperatures arrive and force people like Badour to look for someplace warm to spend the night.