Peterborough sets up modular cabins to provide temporary shelter for unhoused people

A private cabin framed in steel has provided a measure of stability for one resident of a new community for unhoused people in Peterborough, Ont.

"I love it. It's great. I got lots of security, you know, people that care," said the resident, 45, who didn't want her name used to avoid stigma.

"The workers are great here and if you need anything, they're right there."

A mother of five children, aged 15 to 27, the resident said living in Peterborough's Modular Bridge Housing Community is better than being in an encampment.

"It was scary at night. A lot of fighting, a lot of weapons, a lot of drugs. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Not enough food. Just couldn't wash up. Couldn't do much of anything — feed yourself or even leave your tent. You'd have to bring everything you own with you," she said.

"I'd wake up crying because I'd be so cold."

The resident is one of 50 unhoused people selected to live in the units on a former parking lot after Peterborough decided the 106-square-foot modular cabins, arranged in four rows, were one way to address what it calls its "unprecedented" problem of homelessness. City staff say there are challenges to running the site three months after it opened, but there have been signs of success, too.

"Modular bridge housing is an important tool in the city's overall strategy to ending chronic homelessness," the city says on its website.

The city, located roughly 140 kilometres northeast of Toronto, says there are more than 230 unhoused people in the city and surrounding county, a number that includes people staying in shelters and couch surfing. The city estimates another 40 are sleeping rough.

Across the province, cities and towns are trying to develop solutions to get people out of encampments. Peterborough and its partner agencies looked at similar projects in other communities, including an outdoor shelter in Waterloo Region, Kitchener's A Better Tent City and Kingston's sleeping cabins pilot program.

Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal says the city invested in modular homes because it wanted a comprehensive solution to homelessness. He said there was one large encampment, plus many smaller ones, throughout the city.

"I fundamentally believe that a country as rich as Canada and a province as rich as Ontario shouldn't have people in tents in the middle of winter," Leal said.

Leal said the investment is worth the money because it will keep people out of emergency rooms and put less of a strain on the health care system.

"It's worth every dollar. These are human lives. By making this new investment, we are going to put individuals on a new trajectory in life," he said.