While most people on a new term of council are trying to get their feet steady in the new roles, Midland Mayor Bill Gordon has hit the ground running with his first goal: Homelessness in the region.
Gordon told MidlandToday that during an informal meeting last week, members of Midland council and staff shared time with Guesthouse CEO Nathan Sykes to discuss the issues facing those experiencing homelessness as well as the shelter’s struggles to provide accommodation.
“The end result of that is I’ve invited Nathan to come and address council,” said Gordon. “He’s going to come and do a deputation, not only to field questions from councillors but also to provide an opportunity or an option to try and keep the place open during the day so people aren’t just turned out onto the street.”
Sykes did not return calls from MidlandToday by press-time.
During an opportune moment in the social and community services portion of the Simcoe County 2023 budget meeting on Jan. 10, Gordon raised a question about the allocation of funding for county shelters. He used the example of the full booking of 18 beds in the Guesthouse once the pandemic funding for roughly 60 people experiencing homelessness had come to an end, leaving the remainder to their own devices.
“Our operation of our shelter in Midland,” said Gordon at the Jan. 10 meeting, “is defined as a 24/7 shelter. Apparently they’re lacking funding for any day-staffing so that people – sheltered guests – are turned out onto the street every day at 7 a.m. unless they can find a volunteer or someone to work solo and allow them inside to use the toilet and stay out of the cold.”
Simcoe County director of community programs Wendy Hembruff replied to Gordon with statistics at her side.
“It may be helpful to know that right now there are 263 beds in the funded shelter system in the county,” said Hembruff, “and as of Sunday evening, there were 59 available shelter beds in the funded system in the county. That is in various shelters in various communities, and certainly if individuals who are homeless require support, there is a concerted and collaborative effort through our shelter providers through the direction of the county to help people access shelters in other communities and then move back to their home communities as bed space becomes available.”
Agreeing to consult with the county outside the six-hour budget discussion, Gordon told MidlandToday that he had received the information and documents he had requested as of Thursday.
“My first real council meeting at county, I wanted to make sure – where there was an appropriate opportunity, which there was through budget – to ask about that,” said Gordon.
“Even though I need to have my county councillor hat on, I need to think holistically about all the homelessness services provided throughout the county, not just my hometown of Midland.”
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be attended virtually through Zoom by contacting the clerk’s department of Midland town hall for a link to the meeting.
Council meetings can also be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
