Restoration of Rosewood House going ‘extremely well’

Rosewood House could soon be welcoming back residents displaced last month by a fire, the homeless shelter’s executive director said Monday.

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“The restoration is going extremely well,” Tim Philp said. “I can’t say enough about the work of our staff, those doing the restoration work and the help we’ve received from the insurance company and the broader community.

“We’re hoping that our residents will be able to return in two weeks.”

Philp said the intake of clients will likely take a couple of days.

The Sept. 17 fire started at a commercial gas stove in the shelter’s kitchen. Residents and staff were alerted by the shelter’s fire alarms and everyone got out of the Nelson Street facility safely.

Rosewood is the city’s largest shelter and in the aftermath of the fire, Philp was looking for temporary shelter to house about 40 of the facility’s residents.

The search for a temporary home was unsuccessful and clients will remain in motels in Brantford and Brant County until Rosewood is able to accommodate them.

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Although restoration of the rooms, including the shelter’s dining room, is going well, the kitchen is going to take more time, Philp said.

“It’s a commercial kitchen and that means we have to have a special ventilation unit with a fire suppression system as well as commercial stoves, fridges and freezers.

“There is a lot of money that has to go into restoring the kitchen.”

At present, the Salvation Army is providing meals to Rosewood residents staying in hotels.

“We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from the community including agencies like SOAR (formerly St. Leonard’s Community Services) and Salvation Army,” Philp said. “Everybody’s really pulled together to help out.”

Rosewood began providing shelter services to the homeless in Brantford and Brant County in 2018, working with clients to develop programs that help them overcome the root causes of their homelessness.

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