The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is committed to addressing the complex issues surrounding encampments within the community and is seeking input from businesses and residents to help guide future policies.
To facilitate this, Housing Services has launched a survey to gather insights from the businesses and general public of Chatham-Kent, Municipal officials say.
“Communities across Canada have increasingly grappled with the need to find solutions that address the needs of both people living in encampments and the broader communities within which they exist,” Municipal officials said in a media release.
Homelessness and encampments continue to grow and are the result of several systemic failures including:
– A lack of affordable housing,
– Frozen social assistance rates,
– Insufficient mental health and addiction treatment services,
– Limited accessible emergency shelter space,
– A broader lack of affordability for basic needs, and
– Insufficient resources at the municipal level to address these issues.
“The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is seeking a consistent approach to better determine what areas are suitable for an encampment, and what areas are not, to reduce the harms that this crisis is having on the entire community, including for those living in encampments,” Municipal officials added.
For more information and to fill out the survey, visit www.letstalkchatham-kent.ca/encampment-rules-and-guidelines.
The survey will be open until August 30, 2024.
