The staff at Centre 105 in Cornwall have played a major role in sustaining a group of people who were homeless through the summer and raising public awareness of their plight.
A group of about 12 people began living in tents on the bank of the St Lawrence River, visiting Centre 105 and other food agencies and fishing for food.
A young couple told Centre 105 program coordinator Taylor Seguin they had been evicted, they had exhausted all other options and were going to sleep outdoors. “The landlord told us we were a month behind on our rent, so here we are.”
Soon the “camp” on the river was a story in the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder and the rise in homelessness gained traction in the City of Cornwall as well is at neighbouring Akwesasne reserve. The homelessness problem applies to both communities.
Centre 105 staff contacted the paper and used social media to ask for help, Seguin says. “We asked for camping supplies, blankets, tents, pillows, clothing, food items…Because keeping a phone charged was a challenge, we bought portable chargers for everyone at the camp.”
Seguin says that appeals for help have always been successful. This one resulted in a surplus so Centre 105 had extra supplies on hand.
Because the summer was rainy, sleeping bags and blankets were continuously wet, and Centre 105’s laundry facilities came to the rescue.
The demand for Centre 105’s meals has doubled since the pandemic – from 50 a day to about 100. “The need is there – you can really see it,” Seguin says. Increased costs have been met through Social Services Relief Funding from the City of Cornwall.
One of the main problems, he says, is the lack of a homeless shelter or any formal plan to follow when dealing with an individual with no place to sleep.
Sequin knows that some of men coming to the centre sleep four or five to a motel room. “It’s not right but unfortunately it’s the way it’s been.”
A solution is in sight with news that the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA) is working on a homeless shelter in space rented from the former Cornwall General Hospital.
MCA Grand Chief Abram Benedict told Cornwall city council: “We are hoping in the very near future we will have a service provided to all homeless people, regardless of where they are from, Akwesasne or not, because that is what we do as elected leadership, we try to find solutions that we have in both of our communities.”
Centre 105 is a Community Ministry of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa.
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