Troy Shantz
Diana Demitro walked into a central city bank one morning last week and found a woman in her 50s shivering on the floor of the ATM alcove.
Just then a man walked in, expressed disgust, and asked that police be called to remove the woman.
Demitro, who has been homeless herself in the past, instead gave the woman a coffee and breakfast money.
“I felt so bad for her,” said the Sarnian, who is shocked by how some residents are reacting to the growing visible presence of street people.
“They’re treating garbage better than they’re treating the homeless,” she said. “To see it, and to know that pain, it’s wrong.
“How is it that people have no value anymore?
The encounter underscored the social impact homelessness — once an “invisible” problem — is having on the community.
The 47 beds at Sarnia’s two homeless shelters are maxed out, housing is in short supply, and rents are soaring.
Some homeless are housed temporarily in motel rooms, but increasingly fellow citizens are found asleep in store lobbies, under porches and behind bushes.
At the River City Sanctuary, shelter staff estimates 40 people —15 women and 25 men — have nowhere to go and live on the street.
“Hundreds” more of no fixed address are drifting from friend’s couch to friend’s couch at night, said lead pastor George Esser.
Const. John Sottosanti said Sarnia Police are called regularly to remove homeless people.
“It’s no different than someone showing up at your house and falling asleep at the front door. We try not to make it something bigger than it is,” he said.
“We realize that the individual is just looking for some warmth and comfort.”
Officers often provide a ride to a shelter, calling ahead to see if a bed is available, he said.
The number of homeless has grown visibly since Lambton County conducted an enumeration in May of 2018.
At that time, 123 individuals identified as homeless with an average age of 36. More than one in four was a youth aged 16-25, and 27% identified as Indigenous.
An updated count is planned for this fall, said Melissa Fitzpatrick, the county’s manager of Homelessness Prevention and Children's Services.
Lambton County recently approved six more beds and up to $80,000 in support for the Good Shepherd’s Lodge on Confederation Street, and is planning an Indigenous housing project.
River City has raised about one-third of the $300,000 needed to offer 40 more beds at the Mitton Street facility. The new accommodation will go in the swimming pool area of the former YMCA building, which has been filled in with 400 tonnes of aggregate, Esser said.
The plan this week was to pour concrete for a heated floor, he added.
Esser said when individuals must routinely search for food and warmth it alters their state of mind. After six months it’s very difficult to get them back into permanent housing, he said.
Most need months of stability and proper nutrition before they can even transition back into housing and manage the responsibilities that comes with it, he said.
“If we can give basic shelter, food and clothes, they get stable,” Esser said. “And then they can start thinking about the next thing.”
More than 30 former Sanctuary residents are enrolled in River City’s housing program, said coordinator Owen Vroom.
The church rents the apartment on behalf of a resident and helps them manage bill payments and basic maintenance.
Esser acknowledged some homeless residents are treated poorly in the community, but examples of kindness are also common.
He spoke of a colleague who owns a gym and who allowed a homeless person to use the facilities. Members protested initially, but over time welcomed the individual, and some pitched in to buy the newcomer a coat and other essentials.
Const. Sottosanti recounted how staff at a downtown coffee shop found a person sleeping at a table and didn’t know what to do. Police were called.
Sottosanti said he woke the person, bought them breakfast, and the individual later left without incident.