OttawaThe 28-bed Cooperative Care Centre is at risk of shutting down after the regional council voted to cut its funding on Dec. 31, leaving community members concerned and staff looking for ways to keep the doors open.28-bed Cooperative Care Centre deemed ‘not financially viable’ by counties councilSophie Blake · CBC News · Posted: Oct 29, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe Cooperative Care Centre in Brockville, Ont., opened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Submitted by Amber Gilmour )An overnight shelter in Brockville, Ont., is at risk of shutting down after the regional council voted to cut its funding on Dec. 31, leaving community members concerned and staff looking for ways to keep the doors open.The 28-bed Cooperative Care Centre (CCC) is funded through a provincial homelessness prevention program, administered through the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.The counties council of municipal mayors voted on Oct. 7 to terminate the shelter’s funding, calling its delivery model “not financially viable.” That decision was affirmed at a meeting last Thursday, and the funding will be pulled Dec. 31.The CCC’s funding will be redirected toward initiatives including Addictions Recovery Treatment (HART) hub beds, supportive cabins on County Road 2 and hotel rooms, for a total of 113 spots in the new year. Some community members have expressed concern for the people who use the shelter. A petition calling on the local government to keep the CCC open has garnered over 2,000 signatures since Oct. 14, according to Jes Besharah, co-founder of the Brockville Overdose Outreach Team. “The community doesn’t agree with this,” said Besharah, who started the petition and said it has already surpassed its goal. “We were looking for a couple hundred [signatures].”Serving a growing needAmber Gilmour, director of the CCC, said the shelter has increased its capacity from 20 beds to 28 over the last three months to keep up with the growing demand. “Last year alone we turned away over 300 individuals,” Gilmour said, adding that this year they’ve already turned away 320, “and it’s only October.”Another worrying sign is the number of new clients, she said. “We do see people consistently entering homelessness that we’ve never seen before.” The shelter currently has a list of 152 regular clients, and Gilmour noted not everyone who uses the CCC signs in.”We don’t have 152 units to place these people,” she said. “The brutal reality is that people are going to be out on the streets.”Caleb Webster is a frequent user of the Cooperative Care Centre in Brockville. (Submitted by Amber Gilmour )’More than just a shelter’Caleb Webster, 21, has been unhoused for about two years and uses the CCC nearly every night. “A lot of people in the community know that this is the place,” he told CBC. “You go for blankets, things to keep warm, snacks and food whenever you don’t have anywhere else to go.” He said the shelter receives a wide variety of donations from the community.The shelter also hosts a “life skills group” where clients can cook a meal together and sit down afterward for “community conversations” on subjects including coping skills and emotional regulation. “It’s more than just a shelter. It’s a bed plus many services that are attached to the bed,” Gilmour said.”It means as much as somebody’s house,” Webster agreed. “I would even value this place to be the worth of 20 houses.”Finding the fundsAccording to Gilmour, the CCC received $689,000 from the counties last year, a drop from the year before.The shelter is now looking for new funding sources. That includes ramping up fundraising strategies and applying for grants, though Gilmour is concerned that might not happen before the funding is pulled at the end of the year.”The turnaround time for grants can be a significant amount of months,” she said.The deadline could come even sooner: Counties officials said they’ve been asking the CCC to submit its financial statements. If that doesn’t happen soon, the funding could be pulled as early as Nov. 3.Either way, Gilmour fears clients could end up on the streets this winter.”I’m afraid to say it, but people could lose their lives,” she said.ABOUT THE AUTHORSophie Blake is a reporter for CBC Ottawa. She is currently studying at Carleton University for her bachelor of journalism. You can reach her at sophie.blake@cbc.ca.
Brockville shelter to lose its funding by end of year
