‘Unsustainable in its present form’: A Better Tent City gets new path
Posted May 20, 2026 04:19:01 AM.
Last Updated May 20, 2026 12:17:22 PM.
The organization that started A Better Tent City (ABTC), a tiny-home shelter community in Kitchener, is shutting down.
A statement from Jeff Willmer, the chair of the ABTC Board, said “we can no longer continue as a volunteer-led organization,” adding that the corporation will be dissolved over the next two months.
The statement went on to say, “ABTC has faced increasing challenges operating the site, making it unsustainable in its present form.”
Willmer said the change is due to significant health and safety challenges that have grown beyond the organization’s ability to manage. He also cited the loss of several key volunteers who provided operational leadership.
Willmer said The Working Centre (TWC) is taking over operational support of the shelter at 49 Ardelt Ave. starting Monday, July 20.
ABTC will collaborate with TWC, the Region of Waterloo, and other partners leading up to the transition.
There will be a full assessment of the site’s needs and conditions, and a full report will be presented to Region of Waterloo council before the end of June.
Willmer ended his statement with a word of gratitude for the “generous and compassionate partnership of the Waterloo Region District School Board and the City of Kitchener” for making the shelter’s land available back in October 2021.
He wrote how A Better Tent City was the first of its kind in Canada, starting as a vision of the late Ron Doyle.
Willmer said there are now about 18 similar communities in Canada helping people transition from homelessness.
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