'Where will they go?' Kitchener encampment residents react to region's plan to move them from current site

For Aaron Price, living in the downtown Kitchener encampment is more than just about shelter.

It's about being surrounded by chosen family and friends. It's been his community for more than four years.

"[We] have each other's back no matter what, and if you use [drugs], there's always someone that comes in and checks on you," Price said.

Residents of the encampment at the corner of Victoria Street and Weber Street were surprised to see several dumpsters arrive on the site on April 16, accompanied by a notice of a proposed bylaw to clear the tents and make room to build a new transit hub. Regional councillors passed that bylaw at their meeting on April 23.

Three of the dumpsters that arrived last month are located right next to Price's tent. He says it feels dehumanizing. But if he moves his tent within the encampment area, he says he has been told he will be fined by regional staff. The only other option is to move out of the area entirely.

Peter Sweeney, the region's commissioner of community services, has previously told CBC News that regional staff will work with people at the encampment on a "case-by-case basis to find alternative and safer housing accommodations before that location no longer becomes a viable opportunity for people to stay at."

Price says that's not a good enough solution.

"If we use a hotel room, then the staff don't check up on us at all. They could overdose and die," he said.

"I'm staying here [at the encampment] unless they forcefully move me, and then I'm going to camp on [Region of Waterloo Chair] Karen Redman's front lawn."

Lonny Morris has lived in the encampment for over two years and he says being moved to a temporary shelter away from the downtown area could hurt his long-term wellbeing.

"[The motel] is pretty far out there and there's no hospitals or any grocery stores or anything nearby. It's a long walk for someone like me with a bad hip," Morris said, adding that he's lived many years with disabilities that require him to use a cane to walk.

"I have to go to doctor's appointments for my hip. I got a bad ear infection. I gotta go see a specialist on Belmont. I need [a doctor's visit] pretty much two or three times a week — or a couple times a month for sure."

Morris is hoping to be able to keep living in downtown Kitchener, preferably in one of the apartments being developed across the road from the encampment by The Working Centre, a non-profit that helps people who are in need of housing.

The new building is expected to have 38 affordable units when completed. Morris says he is on the waiting list and hopeful about getting a chance to live there.