City preps winter response to homelessness as cold weather looms

As winter looms and the city prepares its annual winter response to homelessness, a survey of people who live along the river and their neighbours paints a picture of how service depots — a key part of the crisis response — have helped those in greatest need. 

"I would have problems getting food without breaking the law," one person who used the depots, which set up for 90 minutes a day and provide basic needs such as  food, water, hygiene facilities and garbage collection at four locations along the Thames River to those living rough.

"I would go hungry and freeze," said another. 

The depots started operating July 4, a response to increasing desperation seen on London's streets by outreach workers. 

Depot report going to council

A report going to city politicians on Tuesday outlines how many people were helped in the first 60 days and what services they got, including:

• Providing 19,595 materials and supplies including 13,798 water bottles and 3,513 meal kits.  
• 652 services provided, from garbage and site cleanup (148 times), social service help (122 times), 103 hygiene and bathroom facilities, 33 housing supports and 82 referrals to other services. 
• Almost 90 per cent of participants said that if the depots wouldn't exist, they would be negatively affected, including going hungry and thirsty, being without basic supplies, washrooms and showers, and being more likely to engage in criminal behaviour to meet their basic needs. 

Neighbours living within 500 m of the depots got a postcard inviting them to participate in a survey and 215 people completed the survey. 

The report going to politicians states that:

• 40 per cent of people thought there was a negative impact on the neighbourhood, though the impact was mainly because of homeless encampments, not the service depots themselves, according to the survey. 
• Respondents who said the depots had no impact on the neighbourhood (35 per cent) noted that they were not aware that the service depots or encampments existed, and 12 per cent said the depots had a positive impact. 12 per cent said it had both a positive and negative impact. 
• Neighbours said that people's basic needs were being met, there was less anti-social behaviour, and it was cleaner, though others said there was more garbage and debris and less safety. 

One neighbour noted that homeless people in the area appear "less hostile and less impactful on the neighbourhood," and that it's clear that many of the actions of people before the depots arrived were "cries for help."

Another said there is a "significant decrease in street violence and harassment." 

Winter response ramps up

The depots are expected to wind down as winter approaches and their resources will be redistributed to serve as part of the city's winter response to homelessness, run by six agencies and totalling almost $2 million. 

The winter response includes drop-in spaces, showers, washrooms and basic-needs help offered by Ark Aid, London Cares, the CMHA London Coffee House, the Salvation Army and Safe Space London. 

There will be night drop-in spaces at the Salvation Army Centre of Hope and Safe Space London, which both include 15 overnight drop-in spaces each for women only.  

Additional services will be offered by 519Pursuit, which will reach out to "the most marginalized and hard-to-find individuals living unsheltered during the winter," the report to city council states. London Cares will also offer those services, from December until May. 

The report states that more "indoor space and staffing" asks will be brought to council in November.