Retreat centre used for migrant workers’ isolation
Repurposing space helps workers and staff
a united Church of Canada retreat centre near Paris, Ont., is home to self-isolating migrant workers this summer instead of retreat participants.
When the Ontario government shut down the province in mid-March as a response to the Covid-19 crisis, Five Oaks lost its bookings for the foreseeable future, says executive director Michael Shewburg, who laid off staff and began thinking about next steps.
Shewburg was ready for phase two of layoffs, which included his own, when talks with various levels of government proved fruitful. An offer to Brant County that Five Oaks be an isolation centre for health care workers who may have had contact with Covid-19 became a request to house migrant farm workers.
“We were thrilled with the idea,” says Shewburg. Starting in mid-April, Five Oaks housed workers
from five farms spread across Brant and Norfolk counties. There were 38 Mexican workers in the first round, an expected 30 to 35 workers in May and bookings until August.
Shewburg hired back all but two of the laid off staff and prepared to meet public health requirements. Zones were created in each building with canteens in each zone. Outdoor perimeters, with a 3-metre area for exercise, were marked off and separated 2 metres from each other. At each perimeter’s edge picnic tables were set up with a cooler so food could be delivered three times a day.
Farmers pay the migrant workers’ food and lodging costs. Donations from Five Oaks’ supporters helped cover up-front costs, but the centre isn’t making the income it normally would.
“We’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do,” says Shewburg. “Could we operate like this forever? No. But for the short term this is definitely allowing Five Oaks to operate, it’s allowing people to come back to work, and it’s providing an essential service to farmers and to migrant workers.”