Hamilton’s first tiny cabin for homeless residents has been unveiled, but the group behind the project is still searching for a permanent home for the rest of the shelters.
On Friday, the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters (HATS) officially launched the initiative, with an eight-by-10-foot cabin set up in front of the Christ’s Church Cathedral on James Street North.
The small space is outfitted with a bed, microwave and mini-refrigerator, and can be locked to provide security — something that those who are homeless don’t necessarily have when they’re living in encampments or city shelters.
However, plans to set up a community of 10 cabins — with the goal of expanding to 20 — hit a roadblock when the chosen location at the former Sir John A. MacDonald school was impacted by flooding.
Julia Kollek, president of HATS, said the cabins will be ready to be put up as soon as they find a suitable location for them.
“We’ve had our heart broken a few times, there were promises and we thought, ‘Oh, this is it, and then it didn’t quite work out,'” she said.
“We are still building bridges with organizations across the city, including city staff who have been actually really helpful. And that’s our hope, is that we do find a place very soon.”
One of the speakers at the launch was an individual named Miller, who has experienced homelessness in the city and said Hamilton has a lot of work to do on addressing homelessness in a more compassionate way.
“I don’t see the compassion like I would expect, that I’ve seen elsewhere … like Vancouver, where they run shelter programs a little different, they’re a little more compassionate when it comes to addressing addictions, not just kicking out the first sign of something that they can’t handle.”
Miller said the “tried and true” methods of addressing homelessness aren’t working and said the HATS initiative could provide people with security and dignity that they aren’t currently experiencing in Hamilton.
“I’ve found myself at the mercy of organizations where they’ve held my things hostage over minor infractions. I’ve had friends who have their belongings chucked that would keep them safe and alive in the middle of winter, their sleeping bags and jackets have been thrown in the dumpster by people who are following this method that simply is just killing people.”
The unveiling of Hamilton’s first tiny cabin comes just days after city council approved spending $416,000 on increased enforcement of encampments.
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Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark, who attended the HATS launch, said the city is trying to address homelessness on a “multi-pronged” basis.
“While we are aware that encampments in communities become an issue for the local neighbours, we also are aware we need to find the shelter space for them. And so we’re working on both sides at the same time. But it is going to be challenging, and it’s not just a challenge here in Hamilton, it’s countrywide now and in many respects internationally.”
In a series of recent interviews with homeless Hamiltonians, HATS found that 97 per cent would be interested in a cabin if one were available, the same percentage would contribute financially to support the project, and 94 per cent say they would work or volunteer to maintain the shelter community.
More than 20 respondents said they would prefer the community be located somewhere they can access downtown, but not directly in the core, saying they want to get away from downtown and the “issues” associated with it.
Deirdre Pike, senior planner with the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, said they’ve had to rule out some locations because they don’t have hydro access or aren’t easily accessible by bus, but they’re open to trying to find ways to make the project work.
She pointed out that the best site, ultimately, is the one that’s available.
“We can make do with a flat-out lot or if there’s a building that we can have access to, that could be great too. There are different ways to manage these projects. Some involve shipping containers to put washrooms in, others are trailers on wheels … as soon as we get that piece of land, we will make it work.”
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