Temporary homeless shelter in Barrie, Ont. will be in operation for winter

The County of Simcoe will soon be ready to open a new temporary homeless shelter to house up to 50 people in the winter months.

The project is a joint endeavour with the City of Barrie and will be run by the Busby Centre.

“It can take months, or even years, to implement a solution like this, however, due to collaboration, partnership and hard work, it came together extremely fast. We thank our partners at the City, Province, our vendor 720 Solutions and everyone working and volunteering to help our vulnerable residents,” said George Cornell, County of Simcoe warden.

Cornell said the site in question is part of a longer-term plan for affordable housing and made sense for the temporary shelter site on Rose Street.

The temporary initiative costs approximately $1.2 million, funded by the county and the City of Barrie.

Cornell said residents would be housed four people to a room with bunk beds and a common area and kitchenette.

The county will also offer the motel voucher program for people to use when shelter beds are full, and would have warming centre locations throughout Simcoe County when the temperature drops below -15 C.

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Although this is the first year in use, Cornell said the county would look at how to reuse the units beyond this season.

“We’re very pleased with the units, and we would look down the road, get through this winter, and then we’ll look at redeploying these units in a different location as required for next year and years beyond,” he said.

Cornell said they are still working to finish the units on site but should be able to welcome residents later this month, with the initiative slated to last through the coldest parts of winter.

He said anyone needing help should contact the Busy Centre, the City of Barrie, or the County of Simcoe to find out how to participate.

“Thank you to the county for their very quick work to make this project a reality. The issue of homelessness is something we all take very seriously, and I look forward to more collaboration with the county to create additional solutions to address it,” said Michael Prowse, City of Barrie CAO.