Last Updated on April 19, 2024 by YGK News Staff
The city is moving forward with plans to end aid provided to the sleeping cabins project run by Our Livable Solutions (OLS) with city support.
Council voted in favour of city staff’s recommendations to relocate the cabins to Centre 70 in May for one final season before ending support for the program entirely at the end of September.
OLS is seeking out a way to continue the program independent of the city, and have until the end of September to find privately owned land where the cabins can live.
If OLS successfully finds this land, which some delegates at Tuesday’s council meeting were optimistic about, the city will sell them to the organization for a nominal fee of $1.
If the OLS can’t secure land, the cabins will be auctioned off with proceeds being reinvested into other housing initiatives.
Several delegates at Tuesday’s meeting asked council to reconsider the wind down plan, saying it was unrealistic, and that the roughly $140,000 provided for the May through September operation of the cabin community won’t be enough to cover staffing costs.
OLS hires people with lived experience for these positions and says there’s concerns that in addition to lack of adequate alternatives for the 17 residents, this opens up potential for 8 employees to backslide into homelessness.
Chrystal Wilson of Our Livable Solutions told council that the plan is not robust enough to protect residents or employees, and while better options have been mentioned – they haven’t been seen.
“The options that are available… they didn’t help move people forward or even sideways,” Wilson said
“Our residents have made it clear they’re not interested in sliding backwards, they understand the good work they’ve been doing with us, they understand the accomplishments they’ve made, they understand the progress they’ve made towards independence.”
Multiple residents said the cabins are a big step up on the other shelters and services provided in the community, and that they hoped the community could remain until something as good or better was to be available.
Through a new partnership with Community Foundation for Kingston and Area, OLS has been able to start administering charitable tax receipts for donations to the program.
Council will be updated by July 1 on any proposals submitted by OLS to relocate the cabins permanently to privately owned land.
