Visitors no longer allowed at A Better Tent City due to overcrowding and safety concerns

People staying at A Better Tent City in Waterloo Region will no longer be allowed to have guests. CTV’s Heather Senoran explains why.

A Better Tent City is putting restrictions on who can stay there after its board of directors expressed concerns about overcrowding and violence.

For the last five years, the tiny home community has been a safe place for those experiencing homelessness.

Around 50 residents currently live in the colourful cabins along Ardelt Avenue.

Until recently, they were allowed to have one guest each on the property.

“Typically we say you can have a visitor for three days,” explained board member Father Toby Collins. “Three days turns into three months sometimes for somebody who doesn’t have a place and, over time, it’s just like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we can’t be a place for 100 people.’”

He said the board of A Better Tent City agreed in early August to begin rolling out visitor restrictions, describing it as one of the hardest decisions they have had to make.

“The place is being just overrun,” Collins told CTV News. “Washrooms, showers, the laundry facilities. We served, in the last year, a thousand people.”

The board felt that having that many people on Ardelt Avenue was a safety hazard.

“[There was] more theft on site,” Collins explained. “We had some violence towards staff, which was really unsettling. A female staff [member was] actually kicked in the face and threatened with a knife.”

The visitor ban officially began on Monday morning. The only exception to the new rule would be for couples.

“This place has been sort of a beacon for homeless people for five years now,” said John Taves, who had been a ‘visitor’ at A Better Tent City for the last two years. “It’s unfortunate that this has to happen.”

Many were unhappy with the board’s decision.

“A lot of sad faces,” Taves said. “A lot of miserable people.”

Others were devastated to leave what they referred to as their home.

“There’s stability here for people that are homeless and stuff,” Lisa Berlin said, holding back tears. “I don’t think it’s right on such short notice [with] no help [to] find a solution.”

Staff members at A Better Tent City were also disappointed they had to resort to a visitor ban.

“It was bittersweet because, knowing that some people have places to go, but some of the people won’t have any place to go,” explained site coordinator Nadine Green. “I was really sad for them.”

One resident admitted safety was an issue but felt the new visitor rule was too harsh.

“There [were] some bad apples, and I think the bad apples should have just been told to go,” Beverly Melanson said. “Then everybody could have stayed because the reason why this place was here is to help people.”

CTV News reached out the Region of Waterloo about the safety and overcrowding concerns. They shared the following statement: “The Region of Waterloo continues to work collaboratively with the community and all levels of government to implement its Homes for All strategic plan initiatives. This includes creating affordable housing, working to eliminate chronic homelessness and investing in upstream solutions to reduce housing and economic precarity.”

A Better Tent City said the board would revisit and reevaluate the visitor rules in October.