Here's how London's first Indigenous-led winter shelter site will work

Trailers to house Indigenous people experiencing homelessness have started to arrive at the River Road Golf Course on the outskirts of London, Ont. as organizers prepare the site for a first-of-its-kind approach this winter.

 Atlohsa Family Healing Services, an Indigenous non-profit, will run the proposed shelter system that could house as many as 30 people in private rooms in retrofitted trailers with the aim of providing them a "connection back to the land". 

London's City council still needs to green light the public golf course site which is part of a larger winter homelessness response program. It's also looking at the Fanshawe Golf Course on the outskirts of east London to accommodate three dozen non-Indigenous people in retrofit trailers. 

But the River Road Golf Course location is unique. It's Indigenous-led and will provide people with services that are culturally specific.

"That's really important for us is to have a space that we can support people where there is access to land," said Terri King, a program manager with Atlohsa. "And of course it being a golf course, there is quite a bit of access to land." 

"So, if we can provide that connection back to land by operating this service out of a golf course, we're really excited about those potential successes that we're going to see with some folks who really crave that connection and access to green space."

Although many beds will continue to be offered in the downtown core as a part of this program, King said that there is a benefit to the remoteness of this particular initiative.

The golf course is approximately 10 km from downtown with few amenities. It would take approximately 45 minutes to walk to the nearest shop that sells food or toiletries. 

"I can say that we have worked with participants in the past who have voiced that they might not want to stay in the downtown core and being out in a location that was outside of the core would be beneficial to them," King said. 

Support onsite 

Andrea Jibb, director of community planning at Atlohsa, explained that the point of this site isn't to take people to the outskirts of the city and "leave them to their own devices." 

"We will be offering full twenty-four seven staffing, and full wrap-around support," said Jibb.

The program will have a focus on community, reconnection and will be rooted in culture, where residents will be doing things like sharing meals together, drumming, and utilizing the land for activities.

They will also assist people in attaining housing afterwards, among other supports. 

"It is quite groundbreaking for this to be an Indigenous-led response and for us to have access to land in the way that we're going to," said Jibb. 

London's Community and Protective Services Committee endorsed the idea on Tues. If approved by full council on Nov. 16, the trailer units would be available from Dec. 1 to Mar. 31. 

The committee also supported Fanshawe Golf Course being a site for temporary winter shelters for 30 people experiencing homeless until Mar. 1. There would be beds downtown too or in areas with higher populations as part of this program.

London first used temporary shelters in trailers last winter at the height of the pandemic when space was scarce in traditional facilities. They were set up at two locations near the downtown core. Each individual was given a private room with a bed, electricity and heat.