Plans are in place to convert a historical building in Hamilton to house people who are due to be released from prison but lack a place to stay on the outside, the Senate heard yesterday.

Kim Wilkerson, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, said Astor House on Union Street would be remade as a transitional living facility for inmates completing their time in the island’s correctional facilities.

The Senate heard that there were 1,331 people affected by homelessness in Bermuda and that 113 people due to be released had no housing in place.

It came after a Plan to End Homelessness — the comprehensive blueprint taking on the social issue — was laid in the Upper House by Lindsay Simmons, the Junior Minister for Youth, Social Development and Seniors.

Tawana Tannock, an independent senator, questioned how the Government planned to deliver shelter for the homeless this year.

Ms Wilkerson said the Government has been deliberating on spaces it could repurpose, with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors collaborating to fund operational costs for the Astor House project.

She said the facility would be managed collaboratively by the Government and the charity Home, offering a “tangible step” to find spaces for those in need.

Ms Wilkerson, also the Government Leader in the Senate, said: “If a client is eligible for parole, they must have a place to live as a condition of parole.

“That has been challenging for some clients of our facilities who don’t have families with a place for them.

“So I am really pleased at the initiative with Home, collaborating with Corrections and with the three government ministries in relation to Astor House.”

Ms Tannock questioned whether the Government had considered converting vacant former schools as housing.

Ms Wilkerson said there were “robust conversations” ongoing on the best use of those facilities.

Crystal Caesar, the Minister of Education, said the Government had drawn up various plans for the former Prospect Primary, TN Tatum, Heron Bay Primary and Gilbert Institute buildings.

Senators heard that Gilbert was being retrofitted as a seniors home while the K Margaret Carter Centre would operate out of a section of Prospect Primary School in Devonshire by the start of next month.

The Plan to End Homelessness comprises evidence-based solutions and global best practices.

The blueprint was compiled over the past 2½ years using insight from 400 Bermudians affected by housing insecurity.

The framework, co-sponsored by the charity Home, includes data, priorities and a National Homelessness Action Plan.

Last June, Arthur Wightman, the founder of Home, and Denise Carey, the charity’s chief executive, gave Andrew Murdoch, the Governor, a tour of Astor House as the charity worked with its partners to prepare it for housing.

The charity said on its Facebook page that the building was more than “historic”, as it was also the birthplace of Matilda Smith Williams, a Bermudian whose life and generosity helped shape care for older women on the island.