Not Alone Team Quinte has announced they are unveiling the first of their proposed tiny home shelters as part of Belleville’s Santa Claus Parade on Sunday.
The shelter will be carried along the parade route to show off the concept home for those experiencing homelessness.
The shelters are designed to be portable, being an 8’x 10′ living space with a bed, desk, chair and storage space inside. The home will not have its own plumbing, however. The homes are intended to be paired with a hub that will include communal kitchen, shower and restroom spaces, and will be staffed 24/7 with a support worker to help residents applying for aid and job seeking. Because the homes are portable, they can be moved in the future as needed.
Cindy Tuomisto, steering committee member for Not Alone Team, said their goal is to get people into housing first before addressing the rest of their needs.
“Everybody that we spoke to about what they would really find useful to help them is a shelter first. And so that’s what we came up with was the model, we’re following the model of a shelter first, a home first,” said Tuomisto.
Belleville City Council had provided a grant in October to Not Alone Team Quinte to prepare a report on the viability of these tiny homes as a way to provide shelter to those out on the street. Since then the project has moved forward but no further funding or land has been provided to the team to set up and operate these homes.
When Not Alone Team Quinte performed their study, they found 180 homeless people were living rough in Belleville without shelter.
