Plans builds in Forest instead

Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Forest will benefit after safety concerns postponed construction of five Habitat for Humanity tiny homes across the street from a large homeless encampment in Sarnia.

Instead, four or five new homes for families in need of housing will be built in Forest, says Dave Waters, CEO at Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton.

“Our team has concerns about building across from Rainbow Park,” Waters said.  “We don’t take safety lightly.”

Volunteers and Habitat staff working on other builds in central Sarnia the last couple of years experienced trouble with vagrancy, theft and mischief. Those homes are on Emma Street and at College and Davis, several blocks from where the Rainbow Park encampment has grown in the last year.

“We’d find people sleeping in the basement at our construction sites. These kinds of things raise concern,” Waters said.  

Last spring, Habitat announced intentions to build five connected 36-metre (384-square-feet) one-bedroom tiny homes on land purchased in 2018 on Christina Street, right across from Rainbow Park.

Right away, seven applications were received but two were withdrawn as the encampment grew to about 40 tents. “One was withdrawn because of concerns about the encampment across the street and another withdrew because they located somewhere else,” said Waters.  

Then applications for Habitat’s tiny homes dried up completely.

Waters said a decision was made recently to delay the tiny homes in favour of building in Lambton Shores next.

One home on Wellington Street in Forest will break ground in April 2025.  Another three or four townhouses are planned for Union Street in Forest adjacent to an earlier Habitat build.

Waters said Habitat’s proposal to build four or five homes in Forest in one year is an aggressive plan.  

But Habitat for Humanity is one of the few groups completing affordable housing projects for lower income families in Sarnia-Lambton at a time when there’s a critical demand. 

While government and other non-profit groups struggle to get projects off the ground, Habitat’s unique model is getting the job done. Every year, one or two Habitat homes are built with the help of volunteers, the sweat equity of the homeowner and a system where Habitat holds the mortgage for every build. Habitat’s no down payment and no interest model provides homes for families that would otherwise never afford their own house.

The organization is enthusiastic about building in Forest where land is affordable and housing demand is high, said Waters.  

Habitat’s board has already approved three families for the 2025 builds.

Waters said he spoke to Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley recently and told him it’s possible Habitat will pivot back in 2026 and look again at building tiny homes on Christina Street.  

“If things change next year, if there’s some kind of game plan (to disband the homeless encampment), we still want to build on Christina,” he said. Thanks to funding provided by Lambton County, design work for what could be the city’s first tiny homes is already done and Habitat continues to work with city staff to service the lot, according to Waters.

“There is a need for smaller units and we are still excited about building tiny homes,” he said.  

Currently, Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton is working on two homes on Grey Crescent in Sarnia.  They are the 80th and 81st to be built since Habitat started building locally in 1994.