Lambton's social services division is asking county council to approve the hiring of three permanent community support workers.
General Manager Valerie Colasanti said a funding boost, received earlier this year to work with the homeless population that existed before the pandemic, would be used to pay their salaries.
"Before COVID, we were averaging about 60 individuals who presented as homeless in our county, and it's to work with those individuals to assist them in finding permanent housing, to assist them in providing the supports they need to remain housed, as well as to make sure they're connected to those appropriate supports," said Colasanti.
She said homelessness is often hidden, because people will couch surf before staying at shelters.
"One of the individuals we're looking to hire is someone to work with those with an Indigenous background. Our enumeration found that we had a higher number of individuals with an Indigenous background who were experiencing homelessness and it takes quite some time to build those relationships so that we can start to place them."
An enumeration conducted in 2018 determined there were approximately 345 homeless individuals living in Lambton County, and that number has jumped to 468 since the start of the pandemic and continues to grow.
"Our hope is down the road, as our numbers start to decrease with those people experiencing homelessness, we might be able to move those dollars elsewhere," said Colasanti. "We might be able to channel them to a different agency wherever we see a gap. So, we'll be reviewing every year where those dollars are going and making sure that they're going where they're needed the most."
The county is getting $376,116 in 2020-2021 and $592,805 annually until 2023-2024 under Canada’s Reaching Home program.
Approval is also being sought for staff to explore the potential of acquiring land in Sarnia or Point Edward suitable for future affordable housing.
The county wants to build 74 more affordable rental units by 2024, starting with a modular building with as many as 24 single bedroom units.
The requests have been approved at the committee level, and will be considered by county council Wednesday, November 25.
