A Toronto-based charity is undertaking its biggest project in Chatham.
Tiny Tiny Homes is working with Linck Child, Youth, and Family Supports to create a youth housing project.
It'll feature 10 rooms where youth in foster care, exiting foster care, or experiencing homelessness can have a stable place to stay.
For Ryan Donais, the founder of Tiny Tiny Homes, this project is very personal.
He told CK News Today that he grew up in Chatham and entered the foster care system when he was eight. At 16, Donais was between placements and needed a place to stay. He claimed he was driven to London and placed at a homeless shelter by child services.
"Hopefully, no more youth in Chatham go through the same thing that I did," explained Donais.
In 2025, Donais was invited by Linck to speak at an event. While speaking with staff, he asked whether placements at homeless shelters were still happening. He said he was told it was.
"I'm like, how many beds would it take for this not to happen, and I'm thinking [they're] going to say 100 and [they] go, 'I don't know, eight or 10.' It was like a light bulb turned on," added Donais.
In around a year since this first talk, the project has come along faster than Donais first thought.
Thanks to a donation of over $194,000 from the 5 for 5 initiative with the United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent's Women United group, a property in East Chatham was recently bought. These funds are also helping cover the costs of getting building permits.
The goal is to raise around $1.3 million, which would ensure there are no mortgage payments for the project. A GoFundMe page has been set up.
Once the money is raised, Donais expects construction to take, at most, 12 months. Designs for the project have been completed thanks to construction company EllisDon.
