Demand for The Guesthouse Shelter in Midland is rising, but the shelter is restricted to housing people on only one of three levels at its 522 Elizabeth St. building due to a legal agreement signed almost 10 years ago.
That limitation has put pressure on the shelter, particularly after COVID-19 when the it reopened its 18 beds. At the time, it had 62 people staying at local hotels.
"The county said, 'Can you expand?' and we said, 'Sure. We have two other floors,'" said CEO Nathan Sykes. "Our lowest level, we could expand to accommodate more people. Then we came to find out the settlement forbade us from having any other spaces used for housing. So, that stopped us."
The legal settlement was signed in 2014, a ruling from the former Ontario Municipal Board, now known as the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), and signed by the Town of Midland, its business improvement area (BIA) and The Guesthouse Shelter.
"We didn't know that. Nobody told that to me, and the board didn't know," said Sykes.
Post-pandemic, there is a larger spectrum of people reaching out as rent has increased and is unattainable for more people.
"COVID has not been kind to people," said Sykes. "What we've found this summer is a lot of families, a lot of moms with kids. We have five families in the motel voucher program, which is the most we've ever had at one time."
The good news at shelter is two-fold. It is getting an elevator, which will make the three-level building accessible for the first time, and the County of Simcoe has increased funding, so there are two staff members overnight rather than one, said Sykes.
However, Midland has no shelter spaces for youth and there is no family space at the shelter. The co-ed shelter can offer men and women beds in separate rooms with bunks. Sykes would like to see the settlement reversed so the lower level could accommodate families, youth and/or transitional housing.
Mayor Bill Gordon said in an email, "The OLT ruling can be reversed so that an exemption can be made for that building so that the shelter can offer the already funded but currently prohibited transitional/supportive housing bed space in the lower levels."
"I would only support altering the ruling to provide an exception for this operation and building and not simply allowing any storefronts downtown to convert into residential on main/lower floors.
"The current arrangement that is mirrored throughout the country has retail/commercial on main floors and residential on the upper floors, and this model works well in my opinion."
Gordon said the shelter is well located to be close to essential services, but it needs to be open 24/7 so people can access basic sanitary needs and services to help them move into supportive or transitional housing.
"There is lack of supply for this next step out of homelessness, and adding some space in the basement is a stopgap while we work on securing more units with organizations like Shelter Now and partnerships with the County of Simcoe. I am actively working on this very issue, but it is too soon to announce anything," he said.
Gordon attended the Association of Municipalities of Ontario annual conference this week, where municipal leaders met with provincial cabinet ministers and staff and attended sessions on topics including homelessness solutions.
As far as possibly getting a shelter for youth, Gordon said lower-tier municipalities do not have the funding capacity or mandate to provide that service. However, as mayor, Gordon sits on county council and is on the affordable housing committee.
"I am lobbying for a supportive housing/transitional housing expansion in Midland that would serve the needs of the north Simcoe community that would include the much-needed supports to people experiencing homelessness," he said.
"The plan would have the support services work out of the (Guesthouse) building with expanded outreach to the street level, including our downtown core."
Regarding construction of more affordable housing and apartments, that is "entirely in the hands of the development community," he said.
The province has introduced numerous incentives through various new legislation, like Bill 23, whereby development charges are forgiven in exchange for affordable or non-profit housing including purpose-built rentals, Gordon said.
"I am full of optimism that once inflation subsides and the cost of borrowing returns to normal, that we are well on track to grow and host more affordable rental and ownership as we welcome new residents and house those who are struggling to stay in our community now," he said.
The Guesthouse Shelter has partner agencies working in the building, including Empower Simcoe, which helps people find housing. New this year is an Ontario Works staff member, who helps helps people get base funding if they are not working.
The Downtown Midland BIA chair did not respond to MidlandToday's requests for comment.
