Drivers going by a Kitchener roundabout might have seen one thing uncommon – a tent arrange on the centre island.
obtained in contact with the person residing on the centre of the roundabout, who you can name the king of Bleams Street and Manitou Drive. However his actual identify is Josh.
“King of the castle on top of my mountain top,” Josh screamed, laughing.
His tent has been there for a couple of month after lately shifting from Port Elgin.
“I figured it wasn’t in a park, so nobody’s going to complain. And I figured nobody would be walking through there and there’s not a bunch of houses around,” mentioned Josh.
Whereas many individuals don’t expertise homelessness by selection, Josh chooses to dwell this manner.
“I feel better outside, but I wouldn’t go into a shelter anyway because there’s a lot of drug use in there and there’s like bedbug problems and violence problems,” he mentioned. “I’m living an adventure. My life is like a movie.”
Though, he does say there are helps out there for many who want them.
“Kitchener is like the best place I’ve ever been for something like this. Yeah, there really are good people down here and they take good care of you,” Josh mentioned.
A tent arrange at a roundabout close to Bleams Street and Manitou Drive in Kitchener, Ont. on August 29, 2024. (Spencer Turcotte/)
He admits sleeping inside a roundabout does get somewhat noisy.
“Yeah, a little bit in the morning. You know, when people put those exhausts that go BANG! I don’t like those ones,” he mentioned.
However he wouldn’t have it some other method. He additionally hasn’t been pressured out.
He says he was approached by Area of Waterloo staff earlier this week and was instructed they needed to tidy up some shrubs on the centre island.
Josh moved his tent for them to do the work, however by Friday he was again at his so-called citadel.
Area of Waterloo responded to a request from earlier this week concerning the state of affairs.
In a press release they mentioned: “The region is aware of the site and has outreach workers visiting to establish connections into housing supports and services. Alongside community partners, the region continues to work towards more solutions to support those experiencing chronic homelessness.”
Josh says he hasn’t had a lot interplay with outreach staff.
“The outreach workers have never really come when I was there. There was like a card from an outreach worker and that’s pretty much all I’ve seen from them,” he mentioned.
In relation to security considerations, Josh doesn’t have any.
“No, do people ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ the roundabout all the time? Because everyone keeps complaining about it,” he mentioned.
Even so, he’s gotten used to being on the centre of consideration and the roundabout. His nickname backs that up too.
“They call me Hollywood. They know I’m always up to something,” he mentioned.
With no plans to go away anytime quickly, you can say this has turn out to be the unofficial ‘Hollywood Hill’ of Waterloo Area.
