Sarnia volunteer group seeks land for supportive affordable housing

A Sarnia volunteer group is seeking land in the community to build much-needed supportive, affordable housing.

The Rotary Club of Sarnia committee came together six months ago in response to the lack of affordable housing in the Sarnia area, particularly affordable housing with support services to help people stay housed.

The group screened a documentary about supportive housing provided by the Indwell charity in Southwestern Ontario communities followed by a panel discussion at Sarnia Library Theater June 7.

The event drew some 140 people, “about twice what we expected,” said Michael John Kooy, a committee member. “We were really encouraged.”

“We’re pursuing conversations with a number of local folks, looking for land,” he said, adding they hope to be a “catalyst” for a local project.

The group also plan to raise about $250,000 the group believes will be needed to initiate the housing project, also expected to need local, provincial and federal government funding.

“In a perfect world, you wouldn’t need to be here,” group member John DeGroot told the audience.

“Here we are in Canada, one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, and we are neglecting some of the most vulnerable people.”

Valerie Colasanti, Lambton County’s general manager of social services, said during the panel discussion there has been “drastic change” to the landscape of homelessness in the Sarnia area, and across Ontario, in recent years.

During the pandemic, the number of local people experiencing homelessness has increased almost 400 per cent, she said.

“Before COVID, we rarely saw individuals living rough, living on the street,” Colasanti said. “We might see one or two, but not what we’re experiencing now.”

Rents have climbed, but social assistance rates haven’t increased since 2017, she said.

More than 300 individuals or families are believed to be homeless in Lambton, Colasanti said, including those living in shelters, “precariously housed or couch surfing.”

The county works with shelters run by the Inn of the Good Shepherd in Sarnia, which are running at full capacity, she said.

The county and community partners launched a housing and homelessness prevention “hub” in a former Exmouth Street church this month. It’s open weekend afternoons as part of efforts to help the homeless.

Lambton also has support and outreach workers, and other programs, to help people find and maintain housing.

About 20 per cent of individuals currently experiencing homelessness locally are likely in need of intensive support along with affordable housing, Colasanti said.

“It’s all about community,” Scott Brush, Indwell’s Chatham-Kent project launch manager, said of the charity’s approach to supportive affordable housing.

The support can include health care, mental health support, addiction counselors and others, including volunteers, he said.

“The staff and tenants, we’re all growing and developing community together,” Brush said.

Funding for supportive services at Indwell’s sites typically comes from Ontario’s Health Ministry, he said.

Kooy said the group saw the documentary about Indwell’s work in other Ontario communities and wanted to share it at the meeting. But the local group hasn’t yet decided whether to invite Indwell to be part of a Sarnia project.

“You can’t provide supportive housing if you don’t have affordable housing,” and to do that, “we need money,” said Heather Martin, who was involved in a Wellington Street affordable housing project for seniors that opened in 2019.