OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is a response to our article on the homeless encampment being cleared by the city.
I just want to say that, while in Halifax, the homeless were accommodated by small modular houses and it kept them warm and safe.
Nova Scotia is far more impoverished than Ontario. Surely it can't be too expensive to have something like that in a discreet location where people can live.
The hardship of homelessness awakens compassion in many homeless. People tend to stigmatize and dehumanize them when, in fact, homeless people tend to be quite resourceful and eager to help people.
I knew all the bush residents and they were quite industrious with elaborate set-ups in there. That was their home. They kept to themselves mostly (though, I agree, the garbage was unsightly and way too much).
Basically what tends to happen is encampments go up, get shut down, they migrate locally and eventually go to another city or town and do it all again.
Literally all the wooded areas locally have residents. Eventually you'll see them wandering back roads and highways aimlessly. Seen it elsewhere. Done it myself.
Modular housing is cheaper than the ramifications of tent cities in the long run.
PS: Orillia citizens have been great to us homeless, I must say. Businesses as well. Compassion is always the correct response. We're all in this together and, lifestyles aside, all we got in the end is each other, for better or for worse.
Thanks Orillia. You're awesome!
Tyler Dunlop
Orillia
