Cape Breton’s first Pallet village starting to take shape

People with a vested interest in the first Pallet village in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality are excited to see the project finally take shape.

"Like, have it be a physical object in front of me instead of just some kind of thing I was looking at on a computer screen was very surreal”, said Pallet village manager Yvonne Jessome on Thursday, when roughly six of the 35 units had been constructed by mid-day in Pine Tree Park at Whitney Pier. "People are excited to have their own space and have ownership of something that they can close the door and be private.”

"There will be 35 people this coming winter who won't be sleeping outside”, said Erika Shea, president and CEO of New Dawn Enterprises.

Local project proponents – New Dawn and the Ally Centre of Cape Breton - say they have more applications than they do units, but the idea is the village will serve as a temporary transition to permanent housing.

"So what's more likely to happen here is that the village is going to shrink over time”, said Shea. “We may end up with, 18 months from now, 10-to-15 units that are available for people who find themselves suddenly homeless."

"Since December, folks have been staying overnight at the Ally Centre”, said Ally Centre of Cape Breton executive director Christine Porter.

Porter said the Pallet homes should help reduce the load on the drop-in center in downtown Sydney, which wasn’t intended to serve as a shelter.

Organizers say the plan is to review with Pallet village residents after three months to see if they are ready for a new place to live.

"But there is no steadfast, 'You've got to be out in three months' type of thing because we're very aware that there is a housing crisis and limited vacancies out there - especially for this population”, Porter said.

Some area residents have had concerns about housing the homeless in their community.

Organizers say they will have what they call a Good Neighbours Committee to serve as a contact between residents and staff of the Pallet shelters, and people who live in Pine Tree Park.

"People experience their worst days in public. And for the first time in a very long time for some people, they will have four walls and a door to not be watched by the public. It's very unbelievable for many people,” Jessome said.

Project proponents estimate the Pallet village will be move-in ready by mid-September.

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