KITCHENER - The Working Centre is breaking new ground with a plan to use converted shipping containers as emergency shelters for the homeless.

The centre has converted a steel shipping container into two modest "bunkies," each with a lockable door and a single window. They are sitting in a fenced area beside a residential care facility it runs at 87 Victoria St. N., where it also runs a daily soup kitchen.

The bunkies offer basic shelter. They measure about eight by 10 feet, and have a single window high on one wall, electricity and heat, but no plumbing. Each will accommodate a single occupant, who would use washrooms in the main building, which is staffed around the clock.

Joe Mancini, director of the Working Centre, said the idea grew out of the growing popularity of the "tiny house" movement. Using shipping containers seemed like an inexpensive way to get basic shelter, he said. It's the first time in the region the containers have been considered for such a use, although the idea has been floated in other cities such as Vancouver and Portland, Ore.

The bunkies are intended as emergency shelter for homeless people who, because of behavioural problems, addictions, or personal choice, can't or won't seek shelter in conventional emergency shelters.

"There are people who come to St. John's Kitchen every night who don't have a place to sleep, who aren't in a shelter and who are just making it each night," Mancini said.

Two small bunkies won't solve the problem of homelessness, he admits. But they will provide another option for people who don't want to sleep in the large, more institutional shelters. Those options have been more limited since the volunteer-run Out of the Cold program folded a couple of years ago, he said.

The centre secured $28,000 from the Region of Waterloo to buy and fix up the two bunkies and to pay for other costs to run them as a three-year pilot project. "It's something to try and see if it works for people," Mancini said.

"We have been talking about how can we be flexible in our housing options," said Marie Morrison, the region's manager of housing services. "It's one of the options that we're looking for to provide responsive and flexible shelter."

The centre has been talking about the idea for more than a year, but because it breaks new ground, it has taken longer to turn it into reality. Mancini will be at Kitchener's planning committee on Monday to ask for a temporary zoning change to allow the bunkies. Current planning rules never contemplated anything like these bunkies so the planning department is recommending temporary zoning, which would last a maximum of three years but could be renewed.

A plan to equip the bunkies with composting toilets also hit a roadblock. The Ontario building code doesn't allow such toilets where sewer service exist, but putting in a sewer line would have cost thousands of dollars, Mancini said.

Mancini said he hopes to have approvals in place and the bunkies open for clients before winter hits.

Kitchener fire safety officials have inspected the site and say there aren't any concerns with fire safety.

Kitchener planning staff is recommending approval, noting that provincial housing polices require cities to encourage a range of housing to meet different needs. Allowing the bunkies would provide another housing option for people who have the hardest time paying for housing and finding a suitable place to live, said planner Craig Dumart.

Some nearby businesses are leery of the plan. Some owners didn't want to be quoted for fear of retribution from soup kitchen patrons, but said they fear problems with garbage and loitering will only worsen if a homeless shelter is added.

One neighbouring business, whose name the city censored for privacy reasons, wrote to the city and acknowledged that the services the centre provides "are important for the welfare of our inhabitants in need. However, some visitors have been abusing nearby properties with garbage, vandalism, public urination and other activities."

The business said it spends "significant time" and addressing concerns from customers and cleaning up "a constant stream of broken coffee mugs, needles, beer cans, cigarette packages, garbage, clothing and other miscellaneous items" from visitors to the soup kitchen.

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But Alex Bierschbach, who owns Fackoury's Auto Service, said he has no problem with the bunkies. He says the soup kitchen does attract a number of homeless people, and he has occasional problems with garbage, but he says it's nothing he can't live with, adding that the garage regularly fills the bike tires of soup kitchen patrons who ask.

"They can't come close to filling the need (for shelter)," Bierschbach said. "Let them put whatever they can fit on the lot."