A Better Tent City organization to dissolve, site management will transition

A Better Tent City’s volunteer-run organization is dissolving. But what does it mean for the site and the people who live there? CTV’s Heather Senoran reports.

The volunteer-led organization behind Waterloo Region’s tiny home community has announced plans to dissolve.

A Better Tent City, located on Ardelt Avenue in Kitchener, opened in April 2020. The cabins were meant to provide a safe space for those struggling with chronic homelessness. Eventually, showers and laundry facilities for residents were added to the property.

“After six years of working together to provide shelter and community for people who were experiencing homelessness, A Better Tent City has realized that we can no longer continue as a volunteer-led organization,” an email from Jeff Willmer, board chair for A Better Tent City, read.

He said changes over the past year, including the loss of several volunteers on the operational leadership team, made the initiative unsustainable in its current form.

“As a result, we have decided to dissolve the corporation over the next few months,” Willmer wrote.

He also said significant health and safety challenges have been identified that have grown beyond their ability to manage. Willmer did not go into detail about what the challenges have been.

What happens next?

“Rather than the site shutting down, The Working Centre (TWC) has agreed to step in to provide operational support at the site, starting Monday, July 20, 2026, pending a period of transition and assessments,” the region said in a media release. “Over the next two months, [A Better Tent City] and TWC will work closely together on transition planning while the region supports with a full assessment of site needs and conditions.”

The Region of Waterloo said it will be a collaborative effort to take over things at A Better Tent City.

“The immediate priority is the well-being and housing stability of the current residents at the site,” Peter Sweeney, the region’s commissioner of community services, said in the release. “Once the full assessment is complete, a report with recommendations will be provided to regional council for its consideration before the end of June.”

Joe Mancini, TWC’s director, said the new plan makes sense.

“We’ve always been supportive of what A Better Tent City has created. And this will continue that,” Mancini said.

He said it is too early to discuss specifics about what changes will be made to the site’s operation, but he has a general idea of what it could look like. He hopes to use what TWC has learned from operating an emergency shelter on Erbs Road in Waterloo.

“The idea is to create a similar model as Erbs Road because we’ve been able to show that that model really works,” he said.

“We’re happy the way we are”

Those living at the tiny home community hoped there wouldn’t be too much change.

“We’re happy the way we are,” said Diana Myers, who has lived there since day one.

“I think they should come and see how this place runs and try to keep it as close as possible,” said Mari Aurbrigg, another resident. “We help a lot more people than just the residents here. And that need to continue somewhere.”

Some residents worried about whether a new model would include allowing visitors on site, like A Better Tent City currently does.

The region said it is too early to confirm whether or not visitors will be allowed.

In September there was a temporary ban on visitors due to safety concerns.

“Part of what we bring forward, and any changes, will be for the benefit of the well-being, health and safety of the residents and staff that will be there,” said Ryan Pettipiere, director of housing services with the Region of Waterloo.

What about Nadine?

Nadine Green is the site coordinator and has been with A Better Tent City since its inception.

“I was sort of blindsided. I didn’t expect it,” she said.

Green lives at the site and said she doesn’t know what’s next for her. She said if she is asked to leave she will do so but she is taking her tiny home with her along with the plaque on in, commemorating the founder and first landlord of A Better Tent City, Ron Doyle.

“Some of the residents are worried, saying, ‘What is going to happen to Nadine?’ They don’t have an answer yet. So, we’ll see. I think all eyes are now in The Working Centre for them to do the right thing,” Green said.