Downtown Kitchener encampment growing, COVID housing program slated to end this month

The population at the Victoria and Weber street encampment in downtown Kitchener is growing again after being reduced to fewer than a dozen tents earlier this year.

More people are showing up and setting up a temporary shelter.

Michael Wosik is one of the lucky ones who used to live at the Victoria encampment for several months, but now has a place at a rooming house.

“This wasn't rock bottom, but it's certainly pretty close to the Stone Age,” he said. “But, the stability part of it, you know locking a door and knowing where your stuff’s gonna be when you get back.”

Wosik comes back to check on friends and use the St. John kitchen. He said people don't realize how close many are to ending up at an encampment.

While he has moved on, many others have moved in.

“We're seeing an increasingly meeting people who are being homeless for the first time. People were meeting seniors whose pension doesn't cover housing any longer,” volunteer outreach worker and housing advocate, Jamie Stief said.

After the opening of the tiny home community on Erbs Road this spring, the encampment was reduced to less than a dozen tents. But according to Stief, that was never going to be a permanent fix.

“We're never going to replace the need for tents encampments in the region like the one at 100 Victoria, because we're in the middle of a housing crisis,” Stief said.

With well over 30 tents currently at the site, Stief said it's likely going to get worse before it gets better with the funding for the COVID motel program coming to end in August, forcing another 50 people to find somewhere else to live.

“So, we're definitely bracing for an influx of people as the motel program winds down, and we're especially concerned going into colder weather this fall in this winter,” Stief said.

Meanwhile, for Wosik, the encampment is still in the back of his mind.

He is happy to be out of the tent, but hurting for his friends.

“I've met great people, and it's a self-governing training community. We're security…we got each other's back,” Wosik said.