Brantford’s largest homeless shelter set to reopen in time for colder temperatures

Brantford’s largest homeless shelter, which was badly damaged in a fire, is set to reopen as early as next week.

An accidental stovetop fire at Rosewood House forced residents out on Sept. 17.

The flames were contained to the kitchen, though there was also smoke damage throughout the shelter.

No one was hurt.

Repairs started immediately following the fire.

“Everything's been torn out. Special coating has been put up there to eliminate any smoke odours,” said Tim Philp, the shelter’s executive director. “The next thing we do is start putting up drywall and putting everything back into place.”

Rosewood House is limiting their reopening to the bedrooms, while the Salvation Army continues to provide meals to the residents until the shelter is fully functional.

“The kitchen will probably take a month or more. It's fairly extensive because it's a commercial kitchen. There's a lot of stuff that has to go in here, and a lot of codes we have to follow,” Philp said.

Fire damage in the kitchen at Rosewood House in Brantford. (Provided)

Residents have been staying at motels and parks while waiting for the shelter to reopen, far from Rosewood House’s mental health and addiction services support.

The City of Brantford, meanwhile, plans to open an out-of-the-cold program to help keep the unhoused community off the streets during the colder months.

“It's something we're working towards,” said Brantford City Councillor Dan McCreary. “Hopefully before it gets too much chillier out, we'll have something in the way of a program to announce.”

The city has also applied for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub, as an additional resource for residents experiencing homelessness and addiction.