WELCOME HOME FOR LESS

 WELCOME HOME FOR LESS
Homemade Solutions
Written by,
S

harleen Cainer, BSW RSW
Last week, Welcome Home for Less attended a live virtual information
session which was held to address any concerns the community
may have in regard to the Beaverton project, which is scheduled
to open in May of 2021. Several people from Beaverton were
scheduled to speak and did so quite eloquently. Several concerns
were raised during this meeting. The Townspeople expressed concern
about an additional 50 people coming to join the Beaverton
roaster, when Beaverton is presently struggling with a marginal or
missing infrastructure. Other concerns raised by these good people were about the lack of
transparency in the development of this project. As the townspeople navigated through the
smoke and mirrors of the projected plan for development, they became more and more concerned.
One person asked how the 50 people were chosen for this project, and it seemed that
the reason was that Beaverton had a property that was already zoned for this kind of project.
Quite frankly we are all a bit concerned about who these 50 people are going to be, and what
is the criteria for choosing them. WHFL is particularly concerned about a fair representation of
Indigenous people and others of colour. What are the special needs of the individuals who were
going to be placed there, and how would they fit in with the Beaverton population? We then
learned that when opening day in May 2021 not all 50 people would be in residence. A psychologist
called in to comment on the impending institutionalization of the 50 new residents, who
would never need to leave the building as everything was to be provided for them in the facility.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Allow me to introduce to you, Welcome Home for Less
(WHFL). We are a group of professional individual entrepreneurs who have come together to
address the need for emergency shelter and sustainable housing. Welcome Home for Less is
not just an alternative housing program; we represent real innovation in housing during this
pandemic era. We are here to tell you that the institutionalization of people is the gateway to
becoming unsheltered and then destined to street life. When the kids age out of the CAS, where
do many of them go? The street. When people are released from prison they often end up on
the street. When mental health facilities discharge, many discharges end up on the street. Need
I go on? Unfortunately, the people of Beaverton were admonished during the virtual meeting.
They were seen by the speaker of the house to be ungrateful for the hard work that had been
done by the Commissioner of Social Services in developing this 50-bed facility for Beaverton.
The people calling in were told that they were being very unfair to the Commissioner of Social
Services because she had done everything, and they are being disrespectful. The offensive
part of the whole ordeal was that the people of Beaverton were respectful and somewhat confused
due to the lack of clear and present information. They were then admonished by council
for asking what was about to become of their town and how had this whole plan been devised.
Our mission at WHFL is to move people from street to home and interrupt the avalanche of
homelessness; To Provide medical & rehabilitation services; To Provide an opportunity for
home security and food security; To Increase the social awareness of the vulnerable low
income and the unsheltered in our "There but for the grace of God go I" strategy. We aim to
improve community safety and restore harmony.
Our Home Team with combined professional experience of over 120 years are experts each in
their own right: in social structure, financial, legal, Indigenous community development, engineering,
and construction services. We have come together through our common interest and
concern for the underhoused, unsheltered and the financially vulnerable. We agreed that our
mission statement is to combine our expertise and provide the best home for less with the
required supporting programs.
Welcome Home for Less has collaborating in the development of a concept for emergency
micro housing. With 2 of containers we can shelter 4 women and 4 men, while taking into consideration
the need to address the issues of grey water, and sewage, while adhering to the protocol
of social distancing during this time of pandemic.
The Regional Council has granted pre-budget approval for a micro-homes pilot project. It is a
proposed project of approximately 10 units to provide temporary housing on Regionally owned
lands in Oshawa for 10 people. Hamilton was just granted $10.7 million from the federal government
to implement homeless housing projects. In keeping with our concept and the vision
put forth by the Regional council, Welcome Home for Less is in a position to erect 10 units,
thereby housing 40 residents at a proposed fraction of the cost of a projection such as the
Beaverton Project. Our units could be erected and operational within weeks. We could end
homelessness on the streets in the Durham region by this winter. Whereas the Beaverton project
will not be finished or occupied until 2021.
In their publication on the council website there is an expression of interest from the council for
micro-home manufacturers to showcase product offerings. We at Welcome Home for Less
submit an expressed interest in collaborating with Council. We will be presenting in early
November, to the Regional Council, a full presentation of how we can rectify the region's issues
with the exploding numbers of homeless and vulnerable people in the community. With your
support and understanding this can be done. This is your community.