Warming bus was a success, but needs funding to be feasible, officials say

Cold weather is just weeks away, and the City of Windsor needs funding for its warming bus.

The city's standing committee on community services heard on Wednesday that the initiative isn't feasible without more money from the provincial or federal government.

"We're fairly confident that we're going to see some additional funding coming from upper levels of government," said Andrew Daher, the city's commissioner of human and health services.

"I would assume that we would be getting something in the very near future, given the fact that winter is approaching."

Andrew Daher, City of Windsor commissioner of human and health services. (Dalson Chen/CBC)

The warming bus operated for 55 nights earlier this year, between February and April.

It offered a mobile place where people could rest, get warm and speak with a representative of city services.

According to a report to the committee, the initiative had more than 300 clients — most of them highly vulnerable individuals dealing with homelessness, mental illness and addiction issues.

Often, these were individuals who had been banned from shelters due to non-compliance with rules or behavioural issues. Some clients were "fearful of traditional shelter environments," the report states.

A man seated near a tent on a sidewalk in downtown Windsor. (CBC News)

At first, the warming bus travelled a prescribed route. This was quickly shifted to an "outreach model" that put the bus where it was most needed.

Along with a driver and an overnight supervisor, the warming bus was staffed with a member of the city's human and health services, as well as a partner from the Downtown Mission or the Windsor Youth Centre.

A rough total of 1,800 rides were provided during nine weeks of operation.

The cost of the warming bus initiative was $143,500 — covered by a one-time funding boost of $1.1 million from Infrastructure Canada.

Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino at Windsor City Hall. (Dalson Chen/CBC)

Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino — whose ward has had the most 311 calls about homelessness issues — is in full support of the warming bus and the work it did.

"It was one of the most successful initiatives of last year, and I was really impressed with it and I kept a close eye on it," Agostino told CBC. "I'm hoping that we can find a way to bring that program back."

Agostino added that he would be "absolutely shocked" if higher levels of government did not step up to provide short-term additional funding to keep the initiative running this winter.

A chart showing projected costs of running the City of Windsor warming bus initiative year-round. (City of Windsor)

At a council meeting earlier this year, Agostino asked administration to research how much it would cost to keep the warming bus running year-round — acting as a cooling centre during the summer months.

Administration projected the cost at $819,000 — $553,000 for the bus, $148,000 for staffing, and $18,000 for supplies.

The same report also disclosed that emergency shelter usage in Windsor has increased across the board.

At five local facilities — the Downtown Mission, the Salvation Army, the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women, the Welcome Centre Shelter for Families, and the Essex County Emergency Shelter — the number of unique visitors over the first eight months of 2024 have been higher than the same period in 2023.

Three of those facilities are dealing with usage increases of 18 to 24 per cent.

A chart showing usage of Windsor shelter services. (City of Windsor)

"Combined, this increase is anticipated to result in capacity constraints across the system in winter 2024 which will require additional investments in programs, including potential emergency shelter overflow, and other permanent housing solutions such as an expansion in rent supplement programs," the report states.

The report notes that, at the time of writing, the Downtown Mission was at 98 per cent capacity — in part due to the success of the Strengthen the Core plan resulting in less visible street homelessness and more individuals making use of available services.

Agostino said problems relating to homelessness were the top concern at a recent downtown ward meeting.

"It's a very complex issue, between addiction, poverty, mental health," Agostino told CBC. "There's a swimming pool of people drowning, and then there's 1,000 standing around the swimming pool and they're falling in. Who do we help first?"

"And every city is dealing with it, across the continent. We just have to find a better way to get people into housing. I look at housing as the solution."