More Warming Centres could be opening up in Chatham-Kent (CK) in the coming winters.
This year's Canadian winter prompted Councillor Anthony Ceccacci to bring forward a motion asking administration to investigate and identify the need for Warming Centres beyond central Chatham.
As CK's homelessness population continues to grow, Ceccacci explains that people searching for warmth has had significant effects on Chatham's Downtown Core, and that could spread to other rural and urban areas.
"I think it's important that we proactively look at our rural communities to see if there's indicators that may show that we're going in that direction in the smaller communities, and how we're going to serve the vulnerable people and combat the challenges that come with people looking to seek shelter," said Ceccacci.
The municipality offers transportation to the Warming Centres, but the Ward 2 councillors' motion explains that it is not efficient, and uptake has been low.
"The biggest goal of this report is to see if there's any potential community needs that aren't being met because, quite frankly, the travel accommodation that they're utilizing right now just isn't working," Ceccacci continued.
The motion was unanimously approved as part of the consent agenda, and the report is expected to come back to council before next winter.
