As need for housing grows in small towns, first overnight emergency shelter opens in Tillsonburg

As the community looks to support a growing number of people who are struggling in Tillsonburg, Ont., an overnight temporary shelter opened its doors for the first time on Wednesday night inside Avondale United Church.

It has room to sleep 12 people and will run between four and eight weeks, while the weather is still cold.

Tillsonburg, a farming community southeast of London, has a population of 18,000.

"As a downtown church I think we have a role to play," said congregant Oliver Gauld, who is also a member of the church's property and finance committee, which first floated the idea of allowing the shelter to open in the church.

The church is not running the shelter, only housing it.

Operation Sharing, a longtime social services organization based in Woodstock is coordinating supports and care, along with four trained on-site staff between 7 p.m., when the doors open at 8 a.m., when clients will be asked to leave for the day.

"There's never been an alternative to homeless shelters outside of Woodstock," said Operation Sharing executive director Shawn Shapton, who in the past assisted people sleeping rough in Tillsonburg by bringing them to the Woodstock shelter.

"We've recognized that we're bringing people to a community where they really don't want to be, moving them from their community supports, a community they know and where they call home," he said. "So we're giving people an opportunity to stay in that place and provide them with shelter."

According to Shapton, the growing need in Tillsonburg "can be tied back directly to the mental health crisis and the addiction crisis we're seeing right across North America."

Shannon Beadow, The Salvation Army's community and family services associate in Tillsonburg, also says more people are struggling in the community.

"We've had so many people moving in from outlying areas and the job market has been diluted," she said. "And the jobs that are accepting are pretty low paying."

Combine that with the skyrocketing cost of living, and Beadow says she's seeing more people sleeping rough in Tillsonburg, including a growing encampment on the outskirts of town.

Beadow also points to a recent report from the municipality showing the number of people who haven't paid their property taxes has climbed dramatically from 24 in 2020 to 638 last year.

The Salvation Army currently receives a $20,000 grant from Oxford County to put people up at a local motel when they have nowhere else to sleep at night. On Tuesday night, the Salvation Army paid for motel rooms for seven people, Beadow said.