London's 2 new overnight shelters will require 70 staff, 40 volunteers

A fast-moving plan to set up temporary emergency homeless shelters using portable office trailers — the kind used at construction sites — is starting to take shape near McMahen Park. 

Organizers say by next week a cluster of retrofitted trailers, somewhere between four and six in number, should be in place beside the brick T-Block building. 

A second and similar shelter planned for a parking lot at York and Colborne Streets is likely weeks away but the one near McMahen Park should be ready for use a few days before Christmas. 

"It's go time," said Sarah Campbell, executive director of Ark Aid Street Mission. Her group is one of more than a dozen who've come together in the WISH (Winter Interim Solution to Homelessness) coalition to help the city operate its winter relief plan.

"We're soon going to be ready to get people who need help out of the cold," she said.

Six weeks ago WISH didn't exist and the idea of using portables as temporary housing wasn't released publicly. Autumn's arrival brought falling temperatures and a rise in COVID-19 cases. And a shelter system that struggled to meet the need before the pandemic was over-taxed. 

The solution was a $2.4 million winter response program for unsheltered individuals, a plan to set up and operate the two overnight resting spaces until spring. 

The plan will use the labour and expertise of more than a dozen groups who've become involved in the WISH coalition. They include London Cares, 519 Pursuit, Project Hope and others. 

Gil Clelland is the pastor at Sanctuary London, a WISH coalition member. He said large coalitions are uncommon among social service agencies, who he said typically prefer to operate in smaller alliances.

"I've been in this work for 14 years, and I've tried to get partnerships going and you can get two or three social services together on some ideas," he said. "Normally we are accused of siloing and maintaining differences so we can raise funds ... but all that has been set aside because we care for these people." 

Four construction office trailers have been donated and are currently being retrofitted with interior walls to create private sleeping spaces, each not much larger than a bed. Other trailers are being purchased by the city. 

In the meantime, groups in the WISH coalition are gathering donations, everything from clothing to toiletries, to help make the spaces feel like a home, not just a crash bed. The shelters will serve three meals a day with food provided by the London Food Bank. Showers, access to laundry and a common space where clients can use computers to look up services, housing and employment options are also part of the plan.

The idea is to provide a place for people in crisis to stabilize, gain a sense of community and access the help they need. 

"The great thing about bringing people in out of the cold is that when you're thinking about nothing but survival every single day, you don't dream," said Clelland. "You're just thinking about today, where you're gonna sleep and where you're gonna eat.

"When those things are taken care of for you, your mind opens up and you can say 'What can I do? How can I make the step and work toward my own healing?'"

Need for staff, volunteers

Getting the trailers ready is only half the battle.

• Interested in staff or volnteer positions? Apply here. 

The two shelter locations will require 72 staff positions to run what will be a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation. There's also a need for 40 volunteers per day at each of the two sites. Many Londoners have applied for both staff and volunteer positions, but more are needed. 

And while all the logistics are worked out, the need grows and the weather gets colder. About twice a week, Clelland visits an area along the Thames River south of Maitland Street where people are living in an encampment of tents and makeshift shelters that city officials have said is prone to flooding.

"I've got friends who are starting to suffer from frostbite," said Clelland. "They're saying 'If you've got spaces for us, we'd love to get out of here. We'd love to be indoors somewhere, just to get warm.'"