Council approves $8M to help ease family shelter crisis in Hamilton

As Hamilton faces a growing crisis of families experiencing homelessness, council has approved $8 million to bolster the city's emergency shelter system.

All 288 family shelter spots are full and staff have to tell families every day they can't accommodate them, according to a staff report. The Good Shepherd Family Centre, for example, turned away 249 families between Jan. 1 and April 30.

"We have never experienced a demand for shelter space like it exists today in this community, or experienced the level of desperation that we now see in families," said Katherine Kalinowski, the chief operating officer at the family centre.

She spoke as a delegate at a committee meeting last week.

Of the family shelters, 80 spots are provided at the family centre and 208 at hotels. On Wednesday, council agreed to spend $4.1 million to continue paying for those hotel beds, as well as $1 million for program and staffing needs to support families.

In search of a long-term solution, council approved a $2.3 million grant for 20 to 25 units of permanent housing for families experiencing homelessness at Indwell's Acorn Flats. The new building will be ready at the end of next year.

Council also approved $600,000 for "high intensity supports" for people moving from encampments to a new 24-unit city housing building on King William Street. The budget will cover costs for six months, starting in October.

Overnight drop-in centres will receive $876K for the coming winter months.

The majority of funding for these projects will come from reserves and end-of-year surpluses.

Takes up to a year for someone to find housing and leave shelter

But even with these additions, general manager of healthy and safe cities Angela Burden said the city will not be able to fully address growing needs.

"It wouldn't be reasonable to expect the municipality to meet all of the needs as we see this crisis worsen," she told councillors.

There are currently around 1,985 people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton, director of Housing Services Michelle Baird told the committee last week.

About 20 per cent of the city's shelter beds are occupied by refugees and asylum seekers, she said.

Newcomers in the shelter system have "increased the pressure on our system," she said, and the city is not receiving additional funding to support these people.

Kalinowski said turn over at the shelters is also a lot slower now. In previous years it took around five to six weeks for people to find housing and leave the shelter system.

Currently, it can take up to a year.

"Our experience here in Hamilton is worsening," Kalinowski said. "We are seeing more people experiencing homelessness than previously. I would also say there is more complexity in people experiencing homelessness."

Parents are being forced to live out of their vehicles with children and face having their kids taken by child services, Kalinowski said. Sometimes, parents are surrendering their children to the Children's Aid Society while they are forced to live in encampments.

Kalinowski said marginalized people are especially at risk.

"Families who are Indigenous, who are racialized, new Canadians, or who experience addictions, trauma, mental health issues or disabilities are disproportionately impacted by these conditions," she said.

City spending 'unprecedented' amount to address homelessness

Some days, Kalinowski said, shelters are turning five to six families away.

Living with housing insecurity, she said, isolates children and can cause gaps in their education.

Even if they are provided the basics, like clothing, supplies and lunch, they still go to school with the knowledge they are returning to an emergency shelter or vehicle when the day is over, she said.

"We are developing our next generation of homeless adults," she said.

So far this year, council has approved an "unprecedented" $46 million to address the homelessness crisis, said Coun. John-Paul Danko at the council meeting on Wednesday.

However, a lot more money is needed to ease the crisis, as Baird said last week.

She's advising council next year the city will require $31 million over three years to help organizations build 200 supportive housing units. They require the money to start projects and be eligible for more funding from provincial and federal programs.

This money, along with other housing-related requests, will need to be approved next year in the 2024 budget. Council also voted to push upper levels of governments for more funding to help address homelessness and the housing crisis.