At last count, there were at least 50 individuals who are currently sleeping outside somewhere in Barrie.
Lola is one of those people, having lost her job at a makeup factory last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit. That job loss ultimately meant she could no longer afford to pay her rent and ended up losing her apartment as well.
“I was 26 hours away from being full-time and because the full-timers needed their spot I was let go,” she told BarrieToday.
She initially left Barrie and headed south to Toronto for a few months to live with family. Upon returning to Barrie to try to find work, she said she found herself in a rut and back living at Milligan's Pond about two months ago.
Now she — along with approximately 15 other residents currently living at the encampment near downtown Barrie — is being forced to pack up their belongings and leave.
“They gave us a warning. They were nice because we cleaned it up so they gave us more time. But I just don’t want to be here one day by myself with all of my stuff and only have a few minutes to get out of there so it’s just easier to do it now,” she said, adding that one of her neighbours told her if she couldn’t find a place, she could go camp beside him for safety.
Dawn McAlpine, the city's general manager of community and corporate services, said enforcement services from the legislative and court services department were at the site recently after the city received complaints regarding activities at Milligan’s Pond.
“(We) are addressing them… (and) representatives of Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness (SCATEH) continue their efforts to find alternative solutions for the people at Milligan’s Pond," McAlpine said.
Lola doesn’t know where she will end up, but said her goal is to get back to work and find an apartment.
“It’s really hard here (in Barrie) because rent is really expensive," she said. "For a room, you’re looking at $700 to $900 with a shared bathroom. Rent gets higher every year. Even if I am working, I’m still living below the poverty level. I can’t afford $900 by myself and still be able to afford to eat.
“Part of the issue is a lot of people with addictions ultimately choose their addiction over their rent," Lola added. "Then they get looked at like they’re a bad person if you buy a six pack or a pack of smokes, just like everyone else does. The city is already run with homeless people and it’s just going to get worse.”
Suzanna McCarthy, executive director for the John Howard Society of Simcoe and Muskoka, told BarrieToday the biggest barrier the city is facing in being able to address the housing crisis is its lack of affordable housing.
McCarthy said people living on money from Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works, "it’s not sufficient."
"When we are looking at rental properties going for upwards of $2,000, and someone’s ODSP is barely over $1,000 it’s not livable,” she added.
Because of that, McCarthy said many of the individuals she works with end up in rooming houses, which although offer a more affordable option, can often lead to their own issues.
“A lot of the time, rooming houses have a lot of challenges and barriers just by virtue of being rooming houses,” she said. “It’s hard when there are a lot of people who are living on the margins and are clustered in one place.”
Ideally, what the city needs is an increase in accessible, affordable housing, noted McCarthy, acknowledging the city is making an effort toward change.
“The city has responsibilities. … They do have bylaws that prohibit sleeping on city property and camping and have a duty to the community, but when people are moved along from these sites the challenge is where do they go? That’s where affordable housing really comes into the equation,” she said.
“When folks are transitioning out of shelter or we’re trying to relocate them from places within the community, we need a place for them to go and we don’t really have that," McCarthy added.
Potential plans to spruce up the park, which was given initial approval March 29 by city council, could include designating it as a city park and giving it trails, signs and benches, then report back to the city building committee.
