It’s been a long time coming for Brampton. Peel Region is opening an interim youth shelter at the corner of Queen Street and Goreway Drive at the end of the month.
The property that was previously the 7 & 7 motel is being transformed to temporarily house homeless youth age 16-24.
The facility is expected to be a temporary solution as Council works to develop a plan for a permanent youth shelter in Brampton. Currently the Region has secured a two-year lease for the property.
Back in April of 2016 Peel Regional Council approved the conversion of a vacant building owned by the Region into a 30-bed youth shelter.
The shelter was supposed to open last fall but hit some roadblocks. Regional Council had originally approved $700,000 but costs began running upwards of $1.9 million.
During renovations asbestos and mould was discovered in the building at 1B Knightsbridge Road which was once a daycare facility. The additional costs of repurposing the 7,600 square-foot facility ended up being too much for Regional Council and they sent staff back to the drawing board.
Shortly after Regional Council decided to lease the 7 & 7 facility to expedite the process of getting the shelter up and running.
The new facility will fill a huge gap in the city, as Brampton currently has no homeless shelter. Youth in the city often end up vying for the 14 emergency beds available at Mississauga’s youth shelter — Our Place.
The new facility will be named Brampton Queen Street Youth Shelter.