Kingston, Ont. transitional home for unhoused Indigenous peoples opens
Global News
The city of Kingston's new transitional home for unhoused Indigenous people has opened. The 19-unit building will also provide traditional Indigenous programming for residents.
A new Indigenous housing service at 113 Lower Union Street is officially in operation, with residents now settling into the 19-unit space.
“To be here is really, really good,” says resident Mitchell Shewell. “Just to be able to close the door is so important to me, you know. Because you lived in a pod, it was awful. You know, mattress on the floor.”
New resident Mitchell Shewell was staying at the Integrated Care Hub before his application was approved for Tipi Moza housing.
“It took a couple nights to get used to sleeping high on a bed,” he says.
As of Monday, seven residents have moved into the building, but there’s room for 19.
“Food’s good, it’s safe, clean, we can come and go when we want,” says Shewell. “So it’s pretty good.”
The 2021 Point-in-Time Count by United Way KFL&A reports 207 people experiencing homelessness in the city of Kingston, 31 per cent of whom identify as Indigenous.
“The stats for Indigenous people for all of Kingston is only 3.4 per cent,” says Tipi Moza executive director Winnie Peters. “When you look at the shelter system or homelessness and they make up 31 per cent, that’s a pretty big number.