Gananoque council hears about Supportive Cabins

The Supportive Cabins Initiative was presented to Gananoque council on Tuesday for information purposes.

The initiative will consist of 25 individual cabins in Brockville, each equipped with essential amenities to provide residents with a comfortable and secure place to live.

The point is to combat homelessness in Leeds and Grenville and serve as a stable, structured, and supervised independent living environment as they reintegrate back into the community, town council heard.

Tuesday’s presentation was provided by United Counties of Leeds and Grenville’s Alison Tutak, the director of community and social services.

The service provider is the John Howard Society of Kingston and District.

The initiative mirrors similar initiatives in Ontario, like in Peterborough and Waterloo.

Each cabin will provide a private space for residents, including basic living amenities.

The site will be managed by the John Howard Society, with round-the-clock supervision and support for residents.

Examples of supports and programming offered by on-site staff includes life skills training, educational workshops, employment support, health and wellness programming, peer support groups, recreation activities, cultural and community engagement, and housing stability support.

Residents of the cabins will be required to engage in a participation agreement with the John Howard Society.

Resident rules will be inclusive of topics such as violence and harassment, resident restrictions, curfew, substance use, and contraband.

Emergency services, like the Brockville Police Service, Brockville Fire Department and Leeds Grenville Paramedic Service have been part of ongoing discussions to ensure the site is safe for residents and the community.

Officially, this initiative is located at 1805 County Road 2 East, in Brockville, with a long-term lease arrangement with the City of Brockville for the site.

A physical design has been established with consideration of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles and will feature fully-fenced controlled access, Tutak’s presentation noted.

Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.