Audio Lessons learned from Peterborough’s latest homelessness initiatives

In 2023, the City of Peterborough implemented two new initiatives to respond to homelessness in the city and to offer low-barrier services for people whose needs were not being met by the existing shelter system at the time.

Those two initiatives were the modular housing community on Wolfe Street, where 50 sleeping cabins replaced a tent encampment, and the Trinity Community Centre, which was funded to provide overnight shelter for six months of the year and a daytime drop-in program year-round.

City council approved the modular housing project in May 2023, and the city announced funding for the Trinity Community Centre in September of 2023. Both programs were up and running before the winter hit, giving close to 100 community members a warm place to spend the coldest nights of the year.

In February 2024, four people who were instrumental in designing and delivering these two initiatives participated in a panel discussion to share what the process was like, what they learned, and what challenges remain. The panelists were: Alex Bierk, Christian Harvey, Auden Palmer, and Jessica Penner.

The panel was part of the Community Symposium on Housing and Homelessness, which was hosted at Trent University by the Research for Social Change Lab, the Peterborough Drug Strategy, and United Way Peterborough and District. 

Peterborough Currents is sharing highlights from this panel discussion as a podcast episode. You can listen in the audio player above, or you can search for “Peterborough Currents” in your favourite podcast app to find our feed.

The conversation was wide ranging. Panelists discussed the potential and limitations of the municipality as a body tasked with responding to homelessness. They also discussed why frontline workers need better job security and why wealth redistribution is necessary to end homelessness.

Please note, this conversation was recorded on February 23, 2024, at which time the Trinity Community Centre’s overnight shelter was set to close on March 31, 2024. A couple mentions of this are made in the podcast. On March 25, One City confirmed to Currents that the shelter will now stay open until at least the end of April with support from United Way Peterborough and District.

Currents publisher and editor Will Pearson produced this episode. He also helped to organize the conference through his role as office manager at the Research for Social Change Lab, though he did not have any input on the panel itself. Ayesha Lye made the audio recordings. Intro music by Jordan Cook.