Where the Hart is

Father Brian Hart offers his property to those in need
Story and photo” Corey Engelsdorfer

The chill from the bitter cold blowing off the Bay of Quinte onto Big Island quickly vanished as I was welcomed by Brian Hart’s warm smile. Hart, a former pastor, has been operating Kate’s Rest, and welcoming the homeless to his property since 2006. He, along with members of the newly formed Board of Directors offered The Times a tour of the property.

In 2006, Hart purchased the three-acre property with 450 feet of waterfront on the Bay of Quinte. The property had been a tourist attraction of sorts in the past. Small cabins are scattered around the landscape, from what looks like a seasonal fishing destination long forgotten. But Hart had an idea in mind. He quickly got to retrofitting the cabins so they could be habitable yearround. Since then, Hart has welcomed over 60 people in need to live with him on Big Island. “Over the years, what we have done is bring people who are homeless, or in immediate danger of being homeless, to live in these cabins,” says Hart. “We help them get their lives together. We connect them to doctors, we connect them to counsellors. Some of them have legal issues that we have gotten corrected. The main thing is they have shelter, they have food, and from that very basic need, they start to be able to rebuild their lives.”

Currently, Hart’s main residence serves as a group home. He has 10 individuals who live with him on a daily basis. There are 10 others living in the cabins on the property. Hart says that since opening, he has always been full. Some might move out for a few weeks, but they either return, or a new face is welcomed. Hart shares a story from just two weeks ago. At 11 p.m., a 17- year-old boy was dropped and abandoned by his step-father. He was visibly upset. Not understanding the situation he had been placed in. He was standing out front with no medication. Hart got him situated. Gave him a bed, and went to town to fill his medication. “Now he is staying here,” says Hart. “What I found amazing is that I thought out in the middle of nowhere, young people wouldn’t want to stay. But it’s away from the temptations. A lot of people here have been abused in different ways and have mental health issues. There is no pressures. No stressors that trigger those.”

Residents are able to decompress on the property. Hart shows where they gather each night for friendly bonfires to share camaraderie. To talk about their past lives, and how they ended up at Kate’s Rest. Many go ice fishing on a daily basis in the winter, or boating during the warmer months. “Some might have to stay for the rest of their lives, and that’s fine. This isn’t a treatment centre where I welcome them for 30 days then ask them to leave,” says Hart. He shares that one perception from the public is that the residents might be dangerous. “In 15 years we haven’t had any complaints about break-ins or being threatened.”I’ve had people come here who were just ahead of the law. They had to break the law to survive. Steal to eat every day. Since they have came here they haven’t broken the law. Them being homeless is a bigger threat than them not being homeless,” says Hart.

Most of the residents aren’t able to receive any type of funding help from the government because they don’t have a fixed address. “When they first get here they don’t get support. They don’t have an address. I assist them to get ODSP because they now have an address,” says Hart. A portion is given to rent and it helps pay for food, utilities and transportation. Donations are also given by the public. It’s important to note that Hart is running this out of the kindness of his heart. Since opening, Hart has not received any funding, other than a $2,500 municipal grant from The County Foundation that he has used for food. Then, one day, an unlikely character showed up at the door. “Out of the blue, this man shows up in March with Kentucky Fried Chicken,” says Hart. “He’s been back with chicken about five times, and he visits every week. We’ve been friends ever since.” That friend is Conrad Guziewicz, builder of Wellington on the Lake.

For Guziewicz, getting involved was an easy decision. “What Father Hart has done is invited 19 people to live with him to help our community. It’s a gift for me to see someone who is willing to give so much of himself. And that’s why I got involved. I thought if this man can do this, I can at least help,” he says. With his help, Kate’s Rest is now on the way to becoming a proper foundation, with a board of directors. This will help secure much-needed funding. Guziewicz is also hopeful it will be a model to other rural communities. “I got involved because this place needs funding. One of our missions is to get this so it is a self-generating model and to upgrade the facilities. We are in the process of this becoming a foundation and being able to take donations. The goal is to upgrade the facilities and make it a model so other rural communities in Canada can have a similar one. The great news is he’s graduated people from here who are now tax-paying citizens,” said Guziewicz.

Dr. Michael Shannon is also a board member. As a member of the Canadian Forces for 31 years, Dr. Shannon retired at the rank of Commodore as Deputy Surgeon General for Canada. “The context is rural homelessness. Which is different. These individuals are basically invisible to the community,” says Shannon. “This place has been off the radar until recently. Brian gets referrals from the court, a number of people are given the choice of coming here or going to jail. He gets the police drop-offs at midnight. The focus is to try and stabilize them, which means regular meals. We look at their health status and get them the help they need.”

Shannon explains that it usually takes four to six weeks to help these folks get their lives back together, and then they build on that.” The residents themselves help each other. It’s a very nurturing environment,” adds Shannon.

The program has caught the attention of Western University professor Dr. Carrie Anne Marshall, who is hoping to replicate Kate’s Rest in other rural communitues across Canada. “She wants to replicate this. With the help of my friends who I live with here, to start another community and actually have my friends go and teach them what we are doing,” says Hart. Dr. Marshall conducted a study on the Kate’s Rest residents, and was thrilled with the results. “We found that residents at Kate’s Rest had greater mental well-being, lower drug use, and a greater sense of belonging than individuals with experiences of homelessness in other studies. This means that the residents at Kate’s Rest are benefiting from this model in a way that has been difficult to achieve with other models of support in urban areas,” says Marshall. “My impression of Kate’s Rest is that it is a ‘diamond in the rough,’ and represents a model that could be replicated and managed in other rural contexts with some revisions. I understand that physical improvements to Kate’s Rest are underway, and I am pleased to hear that this is the case.”

For Councillor Bill Roberts, Kate’s Rest is a muchneeded asset in Prince Edward County. Late last year, during budget deliberations, Roberts shared his passion for Kate’s Rest with fellow council members, and tried to have it added into the budget as a project of community interest. Ultimately, it wasn’t approved. But Roberts believes the importance of the project is not lost. “The success of governments and politics are often best assessed on the basis of how they address the plight of the most vulnerable in society. People, all people, in the County are not disposable objects, and Kate’s Rest is our only County homeless shelter. But it’s much more than that. It’s a safe-harbour of empathy and goodwill where the marginalized in our community can find kindness, shelter, and a good meal; plus educational, medical, and social supports to improve their lot. Most importantly, they also find hope, a scarcity in most of their lives,” says Roberts. To that point, Hart has found that once the basic needs of food and shelter are met, the residents are free to explore their talents and interests. “We started doing aquaponics here. It caught the attraction of Queen’s University and then of Ottawa University. Then the Trenton Air Base reached out to us. What we are doing is growing trees. They learn how to build their own system. These folks grew 2,000 trees and were ready to sell it to the base for planting. These folks desperately want to contribute to the community,” says Hart. “ This is old fashioned rural community at its best.”

To donate to Kate’s Rest, visit katesrestfoundation.ca