PUSLINCH – CBM Aggregates has applied for another gravel pit license in Puslinch that will include extraction below the water table.

The company is calling it an expansion of the Aberfoyle South Pit, but the property in question, 6947 Concession 2, is two kilometres away from the Aberfoyle South pit site and separated by two other pits.

The area is approximately 27.5 hectares in size and maximum depth of extraction is expected to be approximately 20 to 25 metres below the current ground surface, to a lowest elevation of 285 metres above sea level.

The company anticipates extraction both above and below the water table will be completed at the pit, with raw aggregate temporarily stockpiled on-site and then be processed at the Aberfoyle South Pit operation.

CBM officials say they believe there is 5.5 million tonnes of high-quality sand and gravel at the site and they expect to work the site for six to 10 years, with a maximum annual extraction of 1 million tonnes.

According to the application, site operations will not involve any pumping or active dewatering and there will be no direct off-site discharge of water to any watercourse or wetland.

The pit will operate from 7am to 7pm on weekdays and shipping hours will be from 7am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 4pm on Saturdays.

CBM proposes a new entrance at the east end of the site, with a haul route on Concession 2 to the Aberfoyle South Pit.

Trucks will not be permitted to travel west on Concession 2 or use Sideroad 20, according to the application.

No extraction or disturbance is proposed in any portion of the adjacent Mill Creek provincially significant wetland and extraction will be setback a minimum of 30m from this feature.

“The removal of aggregate resources from below the water table will result in the creation of a lake that will be approximately 26 hectares (64 acres) in size,” reads the application.

“Approximately 0.3 hectares (0.7 acres) of new wetland habitat will be created in setbacks adjacent to the Mill Creek wetland. In addition, approximately 6.7 ha (16.5 acres) of new forest habitat will be created in setback areas.”

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Local resident John McNie, who is also a member of the Mill Creek Stewards Association, is worried about the impact of yet another aggregate operation in the township.

This site, he said, is 60% farmland and 40% provincially significant wetland, and 80% of the property is bordered by Mill Creek or its tributaries.

“The Mill Creek itself is a federally recognized cold-water fish habitat and its sub-watershed, comprising a third of the township’s landmass, is defined as the largest wildlife corridor in southern Wellington County,” McNie stated in an email.

“It is zoned Natural Environment and Officially Planned Core Greenland with no Mineral Extraction Overlay.”

McNie said Puslinch is a community that is “broken” by some 2,000 acres of aggregate pit “sprawl,” and that environmental mitigation efforts are “questionable.”

Mill Creek has experienced contamination, temperature change, water flow levels and groundwater flow direction reversals as a result of existing aggregate operations, he said.

“This application pushes all the wrong community environmental buttons,” he added.

McNie said past practice of aggregate companies has been to make the pit license application – including the mitigation measures it will take to restore the land – and then later apply for compliance relief.

The original application is reviewed by numerous bodies, including the township, county, conservation authorities and so on, but compliance relief applications are decided by just a handful of ministry staff.

“Many pits here have had compliance relief,” McNie said in a subsequent interview. “This is where trust comes in.

“If aggregate operations would agree to do what they say, we would have more faith in them coming into our community.”

CBM’s director of land, resource and environment David Hanratty, said the company has followed all the steps as set out by the Aggregate Resources Act to protect the environment and its neighbours.

“We have spent the last six years completing our studies and have designed the site to minimize impacts on all surrounding natural features, including the wetlands, Mill Creek and the woodland,” he said.

“Our studies have concluded that the pit, with the proposed design and mitigation, would have no adverse impact on these features.”

Hanratty added, “This application will now go through a rigorous review process in which experts from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and Grand River Conservation Authority, in addition to the Township of Puslinch and County of Wellington, will have an opportunity to scrutinize our impact assessment and provide comments.”

McNie said CBM’s consultants did not enter any private property to assess well water or determine how land is being used around the proposed new pit.

“The information they made their conclusions on is not complete. It’s all based on a house of cards, with very unstable cards,” he added.

Puslinch council has expressed frustration in the past with CBM, which has many pits in the township, including:

• leaving mud and debris on township roads;
• not having flagpersons where aggregate vehicles cross township roads; and
• mitigation and restoration that has not happened.

The township has hired a consultant to go through all of the aggregate pit licences in the township to ensure they meet all their obligations.

And in 2020 the township asked CBM to cease extraction below the water table because of negative impacts on neighbouring wells and wetlands.

At its April 10 meeting, Puslinch council authorized staff to write a letter objecting to the latest CBM proposal and bring the letter back to council for approval on May 1.

But Hanratty says CBM has resolved past issues.

“We have always operated in compliance with our licenses,” he wrote.

“We have disagreed with [the township’s] interpretation of our license requirements in the past and have been working with Puslinch council over the past year to resolve our differences.

“More broadly speaking, we are always committed to complying with the laws, regulations and standards that are in effect for our industry.”

The 60-day clock for commenting on this application started ticking on April 3.

A virtual public information session hosted by CBM will be held on May 8 from 6 to 8pm to provide information to the public and answer questions. There is a link to register at cbmaberfoylepit.ca/Projects/index.html.

The Mill Creek Stewards Association has a website with information about the application at win.newmode.net/mcsai/commonsense.

The final date to comment to the Environmental Registry of Ontario on the application is June 3.

The post CBM Aggregates applies for another gravel pit licence in Puslinch appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

The following are solutions to the crossword published in the April 2024 magazine edition of Imprint:

ACROSS 

1 CLV

4 Erasing

11 Pia

12 Rose tea

13 Ska

16 Ann

17 I see how it is

19 Skins

21 Winkwonk

22 Loa

23 BHT

24 Sap

25 Ello

27 Pay me

29 Stab

32 Miasmas

34 EAP

36 Hue

37 One ear

38 Secede

40 Tex

41 Net 

43 Strap in

44 Esta

46 Seams

48 Pros

49 RLS

51 ADH

52 Tee

53 Amateurs

56 Vassal

59 Reconnoiter

61 Sri

62 Cat

63 Distant

64 Eel

65 Steelie

66 Sat

DOWN

1 CPAs

2  Link

3 Vanilla extract 

4 Erika

5 Ross

6 Ase

7 See why

8 It hit me

9 Neon

10 Gawks

13 Stop the presses

14 Kin

15 Ask

18 I was

20 Noose

23 BAS

25 Emote

26 Lines

27 Pares

28 Easts

30 Audio

31 Beens

33 Man

35 Per

39 Capes

42 Tea rose

43 Smh

45 Alto

47 Ad site

50 Sends

52 Tarte

53 Arc

54 Mea

55 Unit

56 Veni

57 Area

58 Lilt

60 Tal

ERIN – For refugees chosen to come to Canada, it’s like winning the lottery, say Erin Refugee Action (ERA) group members.

The local group has sponsored five families since 2016, and is now campaigning to raise enough funds to reunite its second sponsored family, the Hizans, with their extended family, including Souzan’s brother, sister-in-law, two young nieces and her mother.

Originally from Syria, Souzan and Mohammad Hizan arrived in Canada in 2019 with their two teenage children, Asmaa and Aref.

“The push is the conflict in the Middle East right now; they’re in Lebanon, in Beirut,” said Susann Palmiere, who helps the newcomers navigate the health care system.

“It’s everything … it’s health care, it’s stability, it’s jobs, it’s seeing their kids be raised safely,” said Deney Delfosse, who largely helps with fundraising and employment.

The group of five is already registered as refugees with Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and if the ERA meets its ultimate $50,000 fundraising goal, the family could arrive here sometime in 2026.

But as Delfosse told the Advertiser, the local group – and the family in Lebanon – face many hurdles to reach that point.

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The ERA was started in 2016 after Erin resident Barbara Harrison felt the town could do something to make a difference in the lives of Syrian refugees.

“There was the common idea that it’s not going to work,” she said, but the group focused beyond challenges with housing and transportation.

“People really stepped up and they wanted to be part of something bigger,” Harrison said.

“It’s very empowering to see that we can do it, and that we’ve done it several times, and that the families are doing so well in Canada.”

According to official numbers, the Canadian government resettled 44,620 Syrians here between 2015 and 2016. The feds, through an Immigration Levels Plan, have also established a target of resettling 221,615 refugees in Canada between now and 2026.

Despite record-breaking immigration levels in Canada since 2021, refugees account for a relatively small portion of the official numbers, with yearly government targets averaging 70,958 between 2022 and 2026.

Harrison has since stepped down to focus on her dog rescue, Paws Across the Water, but says the organization she helped start has been left in the hands of four passionate women.

In addition to Delfosse and Palmiere, are Cathy Hansen, who helps with taxes and budgeting, and Bertha Lopez, who helps with homemaking and household goods – both are the group’s only original members.

“I’ll never forget their help,” said Safi Rahin.

Originally from Afghanistan, Rahin was resettled in Canada by the women in 2020.

His brother-in-law and family were also resettled in Canada thanks to the group.

As one of the minority Muslim groups in Afghanistan at the time, Rahin grew exhausted of sectarian conflicts and instability.

“Here is way different,” he said from Guelph, where he lives with his wife, three young children, and in-laws.

The biggest challenges facing the young family are the high cost of living and unaffordable rent, he said.

“It might be hard here, but that guy [has] gone through hell and back,” Delfosse said of Rahin.

Within the first year of sponsorship, the ERA helps with housing, English, medical care, opening a bank account, household supplies, schooling, and transportation.

“We see it through until they get their first job; we’re tenacious about that,” Delfosse said. But the women say they often provide help and community extending years past their obligations.

Once the initial euphoria of arriving fades “there is this letdown,” Delfosse admitted.

Newcomers become “overwhelmed by all of the things they have to do,” Palmiere added.

“They really do come thinking it’s the promised land … but then they get here,” Delfosse continued, noting reams of paperwork, schooling, new cultural norms, a foreign language, insufficient wages, and the high cost of living.

The women all agreed housing has become the single biggest struggle with which to contend.

Between a lack of places to live and the necessity for a vehicle, resettlement in Erin and the county doesn’t always work for newcomers, so they often relocate to urban centres such as Guelph and Kitchener.

Despite the challenges, Delfosse said the families “become independent very quickly.”

“They won the lottery by getting over here, and then it’s what you make of it, and we’ve certainly seen that they try so hard,” Palmiere added.

The women credit a focus on reuniting families with positive outcomes and long-term success, and said families are “begging us” to bring their family members to Canada.

“There’s a lot of guilt they deal with,” Delfosse explained.

Without the efforts of the ERA, the Anglican Diocese they have partnered with, and the community, the lives of 14 people would be very different.

“I think what we do makes a difference in the world,” Delfosse said.

Eight of the 14 refugees have since become Canadian citizens.

“I have had somebody say to me: ‘Why are you helping them and not somebody local?’ But my response is, I am helping people locally, but all of the work is important … I think the world needs to see that we help each other,” Delfosse added.

For the ERA to have a chance at bringing over the Hizans, the group first needs to raise $20,000 by a September deadline to prove the group can financially support the family.

With $14,000 collected from local service clubs, businesses, foundations, churches and individual donations, the women are confident about meeting the government deadline.

But that’s only part of the financial hurdle they face.

Following the ERA’s application to sponsor the family’s resettlement in Canada, it takes months to process the application, and up to two years before the family could arrive.

In the 18 to 24 months following the application, the ERA will need to raise another $30,000 to have enough to support the family for a year after they arrive.

Future fundraising events are likely to involve Epicure parties, a dinner made by the Hizans, and more formal fundraising events to be revealed later.

For more information, to donate, or volunteer visit erinrefugeeaction.ca.

The post Erin refugee group seeks community support to resettle Syrian family members appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

FERGUS – Three members of the Fergus Phantoms swim team, and their coach, are heading to the Special Olympics provincial games in May as part of the South Central Ontario Team.

This will be the first provincial spring games for swimmers Kenny Hurry, 22, Amy Shorton, 19, and Ryan Fox, 42, and coach Jerica Hamilton.

Swimmers with the Phantoms have intellectual disabilities, Hamilton said in an interview, but that hasn’t got in the way of their physical skill and Olympic spirit.

“These three were to go to the 2020 games but they were cancelled due to COVID,” Hamilton said.

Though they pre-qualified for the games, the trio has been working hard to keep their skills in tip-top shape.

“I’m so excited for them,” Hamilton said.

Sports in the Special Olympics include swimming, power lifting, 10-pin bowling,  rhythmic gymnastics and basketball.

The Phantoms belong to the Guelph-Wellington region, which is sending a total of 37 athletes and 12 coaches to the games.

The provincial competition will be in Waterloo Region May 23 to 26. Winners go on to Nationals next year.

Hamilton said she’s been involved with the Special Olympics since she was in elementary school, volunteering as a peer coach in Grades 7 and 8, and then throughout high school.

She also worked at the pool at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex, often teaching lessons to special needs children.

“After university I started volunteering again and I haven’t stopped,” said Hamilton, who is also a teacher in Guelph.

“It’s so worth it to see the athletes working hard and then seeing that work pay off. Swimming is an inclusive sport and it really builds confidence.

Hamilton added, “All of us coaches, we love the athletes and we’re big on having fun. But winning is pretty nice too.”

Hurry will compete in the 50-metre freestyle and backstroke events; Storton in the 50 and 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke events; and Fox in the 25 and 50m freestyle, and 25 and 50m backstroke events.

The post Members of Fergus Phantoms heading to Special Olympics appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

MOUNT FOREST – Last Friday, a dream in the making for Kay Ayres came true. 

Ayres and Drew Nelson unveiled a free feminine hygiene product dispenser in the Mount Forest arena.

“This is pretty awesome,” said Ayres at the opening ceremony for the dispenser on April 12.

“I’d like to welcome you to the unveiling of our very first ‘Women’s Needs, Period!’ vending machine.”

Ayres told the crowd of local politicians and Mount Forest Lions Club and Leo Club members that two months ago, Nelson came to her asking if she knew of any needs in town.

She said perhaps the only need she knew of at the time was one mentioned to her by a friend about “period poverty.”

“I actually didn’t really understand a lot about it … I figured for sure Drew would run to the north end of Mount Forest and hide underneath a bush,” Ayres said jokingly.

Nelson and Ayres then met with Wellington North recreation supervisor Nick Brock.

During the meeting Ayres said they discussed “figuring out where would be the best spot for [a hygiene product dispenser].”

“It was Nick that suggested right here in the arena, right between the two washrooms,” said Ayres. “His next [suggestion] was that we also put one in Arthur.”

Ayres explained having it in both towns would require the involvement of the township, which has now installed the current machine and will store the product and order more when needed.

When the invoice comes in, it is sent to Nelson and Ayres to “write a check for it.”

Nora, left, and Ashur helped unveil the new machine. Photo by Nicole Beswitherick

The dispenser in Mount Forest was the first one to come in, which is why it was the first installed. Nelson and Ayres are still waiting for Arthur’s dispenser to arrive.

The Mount Forest Seniors Group made the first donation for the Mount Forest dispenser, and Ayres said other donations were made as well.

“We had a little bit of criticism; that didn’t deter us. But overall it’s been great, positive feedback. And today we are here,” said Ayres.

Nelson explained the Mount Forest Lions Club sponsored the first machine and it is still looking for someone to sponsor the one in Arthur.

“We also have the Mount Forest Leo’s, who are a newish group to town… and they have graciously donated $300 for our first order of products,” said Nelson.

He added costs will continue to go up, but other businesses and organizations have also stepped up to help with the cause.

Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae congratulated Ayres and Nelson and said, “I want to thank the township for being so cooperative … I think it speaks volumes that you have a township that’s being there and being so supportive in [this] initiative.

“It’s great to see the community come together… [and] ensuring that the products are available there for those who need it when they need it.”

Wellington North Ward 2 councillor Sherry Burke was also at the unveiling representing mayor Andy Lennox and Wellington North council. 

She brought some statistics along to share with the group.

“It is estimated that 500 million women and girls lack access to basic menstrual hygiene products,” she said, adding “poor menstrual hygiene can not only lead to physical health issues, but also mental health issues.”

Burke added, “I think this is a great initiative for our community. The Leo’s, the Lions, it’s always great to partner with you as well. 

“So thanks for bringing this accessible product to [the women and girls who need it].”

After speeches concluded, the new machine was unveiled by Leo Club members Nora and Ashur.

The post Free feminine hygiene products now available at Mount Forest arena appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

BRUCEDALE – Guelph/Eramosa residents are invited to tell council what they think about proposed changes to the township’s home business bylaw. 

Particularly, council is seeking input on lot sizes covered by the bylaw. 

Township staff have repeatedly recommended the bylaw pertain only to properties at least five acres (two hectares) in size, while the mayor and council are considering shrinking the minimum lot size to as small as one acre (0.4 hectares). 

The proposed bylaw revision defines home occupations as a “small scale trade or artisan craft conducted for gain or profit within an accessory building.” 

This includes wood working, small engine repair, stonemasonry, carpentry, painting, plumbing, electrical work, sheet metal work, carpet laying and similar trades, including general contractors. 

It does not include wholesale outlets, warehouses, contractor or tradesperson establishments, retail stores, automobile services, transport establishments or automobile body/repair shops. 

The work must be conducted by someone living in the main dwelling, with up to two additional outside employees.  Up to 25 per cent of a residence’s floor area may be used for the home occupation. Only one home occupation or farm home industry is set to be permitted on agriculturally zoned lots. 

Home occupations must be secondary to the main residential use and not change the residential character of the property or become a public nuisance due to noise, traffic, storage or parking. 

The proposed bylaw changes have been brought to council “many times,” noted Guelph/Eramosa manager of planning and environment Meagan Ferris during a committee of the whole meeting on April 16. 

Council had previously requested planning staff consider reducing the minimum lot size to one acre, but after consideration staff returned to council with the five-acre minimum still in place. 

It’s important to get it right, said Mayor Chris White, to avoid creating “a lot of friction” between neighbours. 

He noted if the bylaw does apply to lots as small as one acre, it should not include lots in hamlets or clusters of houses. 

Councillors Bruce Dickieson and Corey Woods are strong proponents that the home business bylaw apply to one-acre properties.

In Centre Wellington and Puslinch, similar bylaws already apply to properties as small as one acre. Woods asked Ferris if those bylaws had been generating complaints. 

In Centre Wellington, the bylaw doesn’t include as many types of home occupations as the one proposed in Guelph/Eramosa, Ferris said. 

But in Puslinch, yes, there has been a lot of complaints, she said. These complaints, particularly regarding home occupations on small lots, are part of the reason Guelph/Eramosa staff is recommending the five-acre minimum. 

If Guelph/Eramosa council approves the one-acre minium and it cause issues, “it’s quite challenging to walk that back,” Ferris said. 

The public meeting is scheduled for May 6 at 1pm, and council is hoping to make a decision by June. 

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ELORA – It’s hard to get a free lunch these days, but in Elora it’s a tradition that’s been going strong since 2015.

Strong and growing, says Deb Reynolds, chief organizer of the Feeding the Soul Community Lunch, which offers a free lunch twice a month to anyone who shows up.

The concept started after reading the Vital Signs report written by the Centre Wellington Community Foundation nearly a decade ago.

“I was really struck by the information,” said Reynolds in an interview. 

“It showed a real gap between the rich and poor, and in geography. Only 17% of food bank users were from Elora while 43% were from Fergus.”

That led to the beginning of Bungalow 55, a volunteer enterprise that operated from 55 Geddes St. in Elora.

That’s when the free lunch program began, thanks to volunteer cooks and local businesses that donate food.

The bungalow was sold, and the lunch has been served at various locations in Elora over the years.

In 2023 it moved to the Elora Legion, which has a commercial kitchen and more space.

Reynolds said about 100 people are now showing up.

It’s not just about food insecurity, although that was the impetus for the program, Reynolds said.

“It’s about coming together for the community to share a meal,” she said. “It reduces isolation, increases connection, increases mental health, and increases community resiliency. 

“That’s important for the places we live. The luncheon provides that outlet.”

Food can also be taken home and can be delivered to locations in Fergus and Elora, Reynolds added.

Lots of people come – seniors, mothers with young children, people who live alone, people from the community. It’s not obvious if people are there because they can’t afford food.

“We want to reduce stigma – not add to it,” she said.

Feeding the Soul has also partnered with the Geddes Street Market to install a fridge and community pantry behind the store.

 There’s also a donation bin inside the store for those who want to donate food items to the pantry. Anyone can access the pantry; one bag of food per family.

“We need as many pathways as possible to food,” Reynolds said. “It’s been wonderful – and very busy. It makes me wonder where we’re heading. I am concerned about the next five years.”

The lunches are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month until the summer. Then there’s a lunch on July 9 and an end-of-season picnic at the Elora Centre for the Arts on Aug. 27.

Information about the lunch – what’s on offer, what’s needed in terms of donations – can be found on the Bungalow 55 Community Luncheon Facebook page.

The organization has received grants from the township and from the community foundation in the past. It has to pay the Legion for the space and the rental of the kitchen and also pays a stipend to the cooks.

So they need some funding and accept pay-as-you-can donations as well.

“Now more than ever, we’re needed in the community,” Reynolds said. “I hear through the grapevine that people are living in their cars. It’s hard to feed a family these days.

“But if we work together and make this a priority, we can do something about food insecurity. And at least we can provide a hot meal in a friendly environment.

“Come out; you don’t need a reason.”

The post Feeding the Soul Community Lunch offers free meals appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

MOUNT FOREST – The only constant in health care is change.

Mount Forest Family Health Team (MFFHT) executive director Suzanne Trivers said she often repeats that phrase.

After serving 37 years in the health care industry, and nearly 18 years at MFFHT, Trivers will be stepping down from her role as executive director to return to her agricultural roots.

“It’s been a wonderful experience, and I’ve been privileged to serve the community,” Trivers told the Community News at her retirement party on April 10 at the Claire Stewart Medical Clinic.

Trivers is retiring because she wants to help support her aging parents and “it’s time to give opportunity for a new leader for the team after 18 years. It’s good to refresh,” she said.

The original idea with the board of directors, according to Trivers, was for her to be in her role for only 15 years – but with the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe, she stayed a while longer.

“Suzanne is a pillar within health care and within the local rural community, and an advocate for our rural community and the rural lifestyle in general,” said board chair and treasurer for MFFHT Glen Manjin.

“Suzanne has a long and distinguished tenure in health care, and my time with Suzanne was really spent learning from Suzanne and learning ways to support Suzanne in her role.”

Trivers will be making a return to her agricultural roots and going back to work at her family’s beef farm to help out her dad during her retirement.

However, she said she is “very grateful for the support of the community over the years.” 

“The municipality was very supportive; the patients have embraced the whole idea of team-based care whole-heartedly, and that has made my job a lot easier over the years.”

Stepping up to fill the executive director position will be Christina Enchev.

With 25 years in the health care field, Enchev said she feels “very excited, also a bit nervous because of all the wonderful things Suzanne has done throughout the years in this organization.”

Although she has never worked in rural medicine before, the new executive director said she is ready to take on the responsibility.

“It’s definitely a learning curve for me, but I love challenge,” she said.

“I believe I share the same passion [as Suzanne] for health care, for its complexities and diversity,” she added, with Trivers nodding in agreement.

“I’m looking forward to taking over Suzanne’s [role after her] last day moving forward, and hoping to continue building on her legacy.”

The post Suzanne Trivers retiring from Mount Forest FHT after 18 years appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

GUELPH – An unprecedented housing crisis is happening in Guelph, Wellington County and Canada at large.

The number of homeless people is growing rapidly, and there aren’t enough resources to go around. 

That’s why the county organized two recent health and housing symposiums to discuss solutions.

The key message? A collaborative approach is essential. 

• ‘We need to do things differently’: desire for housing plan voiced at health, housing symposium
• ‘It’s time for action’: attendees offer mixed reviews of health, housing symposium
• Encampment in county courtyard a ‘civil protest’ to advocate for homeless community

“We have a choice: succeed together, or fail together,” said Wellington County social services administrator and symposium organizer Luisa Artuso. 

Unlike the first symposium in January, members of the press were permitted to attend the April 17 event in the grand ballroom at the Guelph Delta Hotel. 

Symposium speakers included Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer, Wellington County director of housing Mark Poste and Guelph General Hospital president and CEO Mark Walton. 

Two people who’ve experienced homelessness, Ame Papatsie and Jason Schwartzentruber, also spoke during the event, and Wilfrid Laurier University professor Dr. Erin Dej and City of Windsor manager of homelessness Kelly Goz made presentations.

Papatsie welcomed attendees and offered his view as an Inuk person who knows how homelessness feels. 

From his perspective, the last homeless family cared for by society lived long ago: Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

But now, 2,000 years later, Papatsie urged attendees to open their hearts to homeless people once more.

“We are in a dilemma,” he said. “We need to start working together – or else we will fall apart.

“Stop the finger-pointing and blaming.”

He urged officials to be accountable to one another, listen, and “don’t be afraid to say what you think needs to be heard.”

Next time he speaks with a homeless person, Papatsie hopes he can tell them “we are working on it.”

Looking around the room, Papatsie said, “I really have a lot of belief in you right now … We are going to solve this problem.” 

Schwartzentruber shared his own story, beginning with growing up on a Wellington County farm.

“We had everything we needed,” he said, but one thing led to another and in early adulthood Schwartzentruber found himself without a place to live. 

“I had to carry every single thing I owned,” he said, while maintaining his job and finding somewhere to store his belongings during work hours. 

He slept in the TTC and under a bridge, and within weeks Schwartzentruber said it was clear he was struggling.

A coworker asked if he had a place to live, but Schwartzentruber said he was “too arrogant” to ask for help, until eventually he caved, calling his mom.

“She picked me up, and back to the farm I go,” he said. 

He got back on his feet, and working at an automotive factory enabled him to rent a three bedroom apartment in Palmerston.

But an inspection revealed the building he lived in was not up to code, and he was given seven days to get out.

“That’s not enough time,” he said. “Most people can’t even pack up their stuff in seven days.”

So Schwartzentruber went back to the farm. Then he slept on couches at two of his sisters’ homes. But these temporary options ran their course and he wound up living in Guelph’s shelter system. 

From there, he experienced stigma while trying to find a place to rent, as he said landlords were reluctant to rent to someone in his position. 

Schwartzentruber said his story is an example of how people get “pushed hard into the system.”

And the prolonged stress of not having a safe place to sleep will drive people crazy, he added.

That’s why he’s “a firm advocate for an abundance of deeply affordable housing,” whether that’s structural encampments, tiny homes, or dorm-style bunk houses.

Ensuring people have a safe place to lay their heads will “make a difference,” Schwartzentruber assured.   

Though individual stories are important, it’s essential to understand that the causes of homelessness reach far beyond individual struggles, professor Dej said during her keynote address. 

“The number of people experiencing homelessness and the depth of need cannot be blamed solely, or even primarily, on individual or relational issues,” she said.

Instead, it’s necessary to consider the structural and systemic causes of homelessness, including policies and legislation, the lack of affordable housing, limited program eligibility, and barriers to accessing support. 

Homelessness in Canada increased by 20 per cent between 2018 and 2022, Dej said.

That includes unhoused people sleeping on couches and in shelters, hospitals, prisons and jails.

“Unsheltered homelessness” increased by 88% – that’s people living on the streets and in alleys, parks, transit stations, abandoned buildings, encampments, vehicles and other outdoor spaces. 

And there aren’t enough resources to respond, Dej said.

Wellington housing director Poste said the biggest problems are a lack of both affordable social housing and health services. 

In Guelph and Wellington there are 3,183 people on waitlists for social housing and 3,600 social housing units, he said, meaning people wait between four and eight years for a unit.

Even if they have “special priority,” such as people escaping domestic violence or human trafficking, they can still expect to wait more than a year.

Five years ago, the waitlist had “just shy of 2,000 people,” Poste noted.

And people living in social housing are staying longer, because “no one wants to expose themselves to the private housing market” and risk facing homelessness, he said. 

Under current market conditions, too many people can’t afford a home, the panelists agreed.

An individual receiving social assistance in Ontario (Ontario Works) gets $733 a month, Poste said. That’s for rent, food, toiletries, utilities, transportation, and anything else they need.

“Renting a one-bedroom apartment costs over $2,000 – the math just doesn’t add up,” he said. 

In Wellington County, 6% of people are low income, Mercer added, and in Guelph it’s 8%.

Municipalities should invest in these low-income communities, she said, noting the best transit, bike lanes, sidewalks, and childcare spaces should be in those neighbourhoods, “so people can get to work.” 

And access to primary care helps connect people to the services they need, but 12,000 people in Wellington, Guelph and Dufferin do not have a primary care provider – an issue disproportionately affecting those with lower incomes, Mercer added.

She said municipalities should work to bring more family doctors into local communities. 

“We don’t have to wait for the province to give us money,” she said. “We can make choices in our community.” 

Guelph hospital president Walton said many people end up in hospital emergency rooms because they are not able to access health care when they need it – before it becomes an emergency. 

And some people stay in hospital for years, “because there is no other place for them to go.”

These patients –  those who can’t be discharged from the hospital solely because they have nowhere else to go – take up a quarter of the beds at Guelph General Hospital, Walton said. 

“Poverty affects us all,” Mercer said, urging symposium attendees to make choices that improve the lives of the homeless and people at risk of homelessness.

“We have to think creatively and differently,” she added. 

Poste stressed that service providers in different organizations need to advocate collectively.

In Walton’s words, “radical collaboration” is needed. “Let’s cut the bullshit and get some stuff done,” he said.  

After the panel discussion and keynote speakers, symposium participants broke into groups and spent the afternoon in conversation about what that collaboration and those creative choices will look like.

At the end of the day, Artuso said “this is just the beginning,” and noted a community plan will be created “based on trust and relationships.”

She said there will be another symposium in a year or two, and “it will be really interesting to see … Did we move the needle forward?”  

The post County hosts second health, housing symposium in Guelph appeared first on Wellington Advertiser.

Amanda Kroetsch, a 44-year-old woman, was always a successful entrepreneur owning different businesses. Years ago, she became a victim of intimate partner violence which caused severe injuries and PTSD. Amid the situation, financial abuse came along as well. All the money saved was spent on legal or medical fees and Kroetsch said she filed bankruptcy.

Overall, 44 per cent of women in Canada who have been in an intimate partner relationship, or about 6.2 million women aged 15 and over, reported experiencing psychological, physical, or sexual abuse in the context of an intimate relationship in their lifetime, according to Statistics Canada.

Kroetsch was always fond of thrifting, but she went from wanting, to needing, to thrift. This experience became an inspiration for her to open a store for the community to raise funds and it is also a way for her to get back on her feet as a survivor.

“I still sometimes don’t feel comfortable having the business on my own: on days like these, the motivation comes from within thinking about the people who can’t speak up for themselves and I am responsible to make them feel seen,” said Kroetsch.

The motivation came from the trauma Kroetsch experienced. She said doctors told her at one point that she might not fully recovery from her injuries.

In March 2022, when Retail Therapy started, the aim for the store was to build a trauma-informed environment where everybody felt comfortable. Shoppers can pay what they want and what they can afford. Their priority is raising funds so the money that comes in goes to support domestic violence survivors with mental health, medical and legal fees. Financial abuse is a common element of domestic violence, survivors say.

“I am a regular customer at this store and my favourite part is the variety they have for the cheap prices comparative to other mainstream thrift stores,” said Melissa Haul, a customer at Retail Therapy.

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Kroetsch is an advocate. “Everybody in society looks down on survivors …I want to break the stigma around being a survivor.”

The store is running on the funds raised by the community so the biggest challenge they face is not being able to pay their expenses. They haven’t been granted charitable status, hindering their fundraising abilities, Kroetsch said.

“I look up to … being an example of turning my life from being dependant to fighting my battles on my own,” said Kroetsch.