Cornwall unveils winter housing plan in shadow of encampment resident's death

An eastern Ontario city's plan to house homeless people this winter is being met with a mixof relief andregret, coming less than a week after a woman diedin a local encampment.

On Thursday, the City of Cornwall announced it will usea former nursing home as a transitional housing and support services hub. The goal isto then move people to more permanent sites, including a former school being retrofitted to provide supportive housing units and tiny homes.

Cornwall's homelessness problem has become more visible since the COVID-19 pandemic, with encampments taking root at multiple sites, most recently at a riverside park where a 67-year-old woman, Diane Hebert, was found dead in a tent on Sunday morning.

The city says it has been working behind the scenes on homelessness solutions for months. Hebert's death, and its timing, has hit hard.

Coun. Sarah Good called the news "gutting" and the timing "brutal," while fellow councillor Claude McIntosh said the deathwas a "game-changer."

Mayor Justin Towndale issued a public statementin which he took personal responsibility as mayor for what happened, while also stating that Hebert had declined the help of the city's human services department.

"We failed her. I failed her," Towndale's statement read.

"Nothing I can say or do will bring Ms. Hebert back. All I can do is pledge to do better and hope that we can avoid a similar tragedy in the future."

Dramatic increase at daytimedrop-in centre

Cornwall has no overnight shelter for homeless people a shock to people coming in from other cities and a factor that led to the camps,Taylor Seguin says.

Seguin isthe executive director of Centre 105, a daytime drop-in centre and breakfast provider in Cornwall.

He says higher rents in recent years have made affordable homes harder to come by and that traffic at the centre has risen "dramatically."

Hebert's death was heartbreaking in part because"had our community acted in a more swift manner,perhaps this could have been avoided," Seguin said.

In his statement, Towndale said the cityoriginally hoped a temporary shelter space would be ready by the end of October. But one location didn't pan out, while the logistics for the nursing home buildingtook time to work out.

That downtown building will have room for up to 20 residents and offeraddiction services, mental health supports and other wraparound carethe city has said iskey to helping the homeless.

"Ashelter alone is not thesolution. We need a more robust plan," Towndale said in his statement.

• Read the mayor's full statement

Seguin said that while a shelter is often seen as a Band-Aid fix, "we need some Band-Aids right now [because] we are in a really tough situation."

The list of Cornwall residents identifying as homelessnumbered 77 in October 2021. That has since grown to 120, the city said on Friday.

The same day, Cornwall's chief administrative officerMathieuFleurysaid in a news conferencethat the nursing home building will have enough capacity for those still in encampments.

At Pointe MalignePark, where Diane Hebert was staying with her daughter, seven people remained as of Friday afternoon, while three were at another nearby camp, according to Unity Street Help Association, a local advocacy group.

"They are still in mourning here," association spokesperson Tina Point said via text of Pointe Maligne, whose lands are technically owned by Transport Canada.

Some people may choose to remain in a tent and "we need to respect that choice," according toacity update posted ahead of council's next meetingon Tuesday.

Larger plan includes sleeping cabins

The city is leasingthe nursing home building for at leastseven months, possibly longer.

The idea is to eventually move residents to abuilding the city has bought, the former Vincent Massey Public School in the north end of the city, according to the plans unveiled Thursday.

Massey Placewill feature nine supportivehousing units and potentially20 tiny homes or sleeping cabins, though the exact timeline for its opening is unclear.

The building is close to three schools, so ifthe city proceeds with that location, it can expect "big-time" pushback, McIntoshsaid.

The city has met with school officials, according to the city's update to councillors.