Raymond Willard was living in a tent under the Paris Street bridge in Sudbury, but was recently kicked out by bylaw officers.
Willard was there because he had to leave a downtown apartment building beside the Samaritan Centre when it was condemned at the end of August.
“There was leaking in the basement that was causing everyone to get sick,” he said.
“We were all getting pneumonia from being inside the building … so they condemned the building.”
Willard said he likes to be downtown because it is close to supports like food, bathroom and shower facilities, but it’s getting more difficult.
“They just keep telling me out of sight, out of mind, so if they can’t see me I can’t see them,” he said.
“So they want me to find a place in the bush where I can’t be seen. And with doing that it basically pushes us further and further away from amenities.”
Officials at the Blue Door Soup Kitchen said they are noticing a recent trend with clients coming in later for lunch.
“The apartment building next door to us which housed a lot of clients have been evicted from their building,” said soup kitchen manager Bill Hickey.
“We have noticed a drop in our population for lunch at certain times because they are further away. They have to travel further to come for lunch.”
Officials at the Homelessness Network said any loss of affordable housing is a real blow to the community.
“We are quite concerned with this winter with the reality of the numbers out there,” said Ray Landry, the Homelessness network coordinator.
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“Comparing those numbers to the amount of shelter space there … we know that a lot of people will be sleeping outside whether by choice or by force. The numbers are greater than what’s available to assist them at this time.”
The Homelessness Network said it’s working with community partners to open more warming spaces beyond the regular shelter system during extreme cold weather alerts.
