Motel Ministry - Burlington & Oakville

Carol Willems-Payne, a social worker with the Salvation Army, discussed her work in the Motel Ministry with the homeless in Burlington and Oakville. This is a community outreach program with funding from Wellington Square United Church, Compass Point and others. They have a house in Burlington where homeless families can obtain short term shelter. There are facilities for 3 families in Burlington and 2 in Oakville. Other shelter, which is less than ideal, is provided in motels. There is always a waiting list. There are regular applications from Milton residents. The program has been unsuccessful in finding such facilities in Milton. An ideal facility is a ground floor apartment near the back of the building where the building owner/manager is supportive of the program. Names of candidates are obtained from Halton Region social services. Screening of the applicants is critical, as inappropriate behaviour by the short term residents put the program at risk. The cost would be about $1000 per month, supplied by a number of community supporters including churches and service clubs. It may be possible to negotiate lower than market rental rates because there is a long term commitment with guaranteed rent payments.

In order to make some progress in Milton, it was suggested that we might rent 2 rooms at the Fifth Wheel for the winter. Prior to any commitment to this course of action it will be necessary to obtain cooperation from the Region to screen appropriate candidates, obtain funding support from other institutions and arrange for competent supervision of the facilities and the program.