BARRIE, ONT. -- It was eviction day for more than a dozen people living at Milligan's Pond in Barrie.
Many tore down tents and makeshift sheds as bylaw officers and Barrie police stood by.
Richard Defrederico packed up his 'home,' a shed he built last October, saying he's being thrown out onto the street with nowhere to go, admitting he feels vulnerable and embarrassed.
"I've been here nine months, so I have helped a lot of people," Defrederico says. "I need some help myself."
He has been living at the park surrounded by countless others battling addiction and homelessness.
Now he's desperate for a chance to turn his life around.
"A lot of people are feeling hopeless, but a lot of folks are continuing to move on to another place," says Sarah Tilley, The Gilbert Centre's harm reduction coordinator. "This isn't the first time they've had to do this, and probably won't be the last."
"This is a very, very difficult situation," Mayor Jeff Lehman said in a video post on social media today.
"The root cause of this is that we don't have enough portable or supportive housing in Barrie and it's a situation that continues to repeat and was actually made worse during COVID because we don't have the supports or housing to help stop the cycle of homelessness for some people in our community," the mayor added.
Outreach workers have been attempting to find shelter for those in need, but some are just not ready to go.
"To me, it sounds like it's illegal to be homeless, and that's not right," says Ashley Ann Brummell, who admits she's been living in the park and fighting to survive.
The mayor says the conditions at Milligan's Pond couldn't continue, but admits he knows many will just move to another wooded area to set up camp.
Kim Bartlett, with the David Busby Centre, says most have turned down help.
"A lot of our people don't know who to trust. We do have shelter, but not enough," she says.
