A local initiative to help unhoused people in the area is almost ready to hit the streets.
The Buddy Bus is a mobile warming room that will travel around Northumberland to where the need for warming rooms and shelter is the greatest.
The project is being organized by Jordan Stevenson, the owner of BuildX in Port Hope, with the support of staff there as well as several other local support groups.
Stevenson explained what the Buddy Bus is.
The team is currently working to retrofit a decommissioned city bus to have several beds, a kitchenette area, and a workstation for harm reduction workers to monitor occupants.
The bus gets its name from Stevenson’s dog Buddy, who can typically be found at the BuildX offices.
Stevenson said the bus came about as a solution to the growing homelessness issue.
He said the bus is the first step on what he and many other homelessness advocacy groups say is a potential solution to the problem.
During some of the colder days this winter, Stevenson said they opened to doors to the business to act as a warming room. However due to it’s location away from the town centre and that they still needed to get work done, it was not an ideal long term solution.
He said this project will hopefully help alleviate a difficult issue.
As for who will operate the bus, they’re launching a non-profit Community Response Team to support the efforts of some trained staff that will also be working on the bus to support the people staying on it.
There’s still some work that needs to be done on the bus, but Stevenson said they’re planning to hold a big reveal party on March 11. He said the event is still in the planning stages, and more information will be coming soon.
If you want to help support the Buddy Bus or learn more about it, you can check out their GoFundMe page.
Written by Lee McConnell
