Old East Village residents say they've had enough of feeling unsafe in their community

Community members in London's Old East Village (OEV) say their neighbourhood has become the focal point of visible homelessness, open drug use and crime that has left residents and business owners feeling unsafe. 

Hundreds attended two public engagement meetings on Wednesday where they expressed their frustrations about the concentration of social services in the area and called on the city to help OEV regain its vibrancy. 

Chantelle Vince has lived near Lorne Park in OEV for almost two years and said it's nearly impossible for her to bring her three-year-old son out to play because it's infiltrated with drug paraphernalia and other messes that are a health and safety hazard. 

"We as the community clean the park on a daily basis," she said. "We see everything from clothing to human feces, pieces of tin foils, needles and actual people passed out in the park. It's just really upsetting because a park should be a safe place for our children."

The meetings, which at times got heated, were organized by OEV's business improvement area and the Ark Aid Mission — one of the city's largest shelters, which is seeking an additional $4.3 million year-round funding over the next three years. 

The money will go toward a 24/7 drop-in centre, with 30 overnight beds at its 696 Dundas St. location, along with its Cronyn Warner site at 432 William Street that provides shelter to 60 people on a referral basis every night. It will also allow the non-profit to hire people permanently to provide stable care, instead of seeking short-term funding every few months. 

The ask is on top of $1.8 million the agency received from the city in July to extend its services until Dec. 31. The Ark has 1,300 service interactions every day providing people with basic needs like food, clothing, showers, laundry and outreach, its executive director Sarah Campbell said. 

'I feel for this community' 

Stephanie and Sean Clark travelled from Brantford, Ont., to advocate for the Ark and its services. Their daughter Olivia used the Ark's overnight shelter and died following a tent fire in April 2023, after the agency had to close crash beds because a portion of its funding ran out. 

Stephanie Clark believes her daughter would still be alive if more shelter was available and was disheartened to see the agency continuing to fight to open up more beds, she said.

"I feel for this community, for the business owners, the families and all the people that live here. It's a travesty but I don't think Ark Aid is necessarily at fault and I don't think cutting funding or not providing funding is the solution," she said.

"It's not as easy as 'just move it to someone else's neighbourhood.' Yes, it is a Band-Aid, giving people food and providing showers, but it's a baby step toward giving somebody dignity so maybe one day they will make the step to get clean."

Clark wants to see more funding treatment and recovery centres, along with supports to prevent people from relapsing back to addiction. She said it was positive to see Londoners come together and she hopes for legislation that can benefit everyone.

Although residents appreciate the Ark's services, many feel overlooked by the city and believe the social services aren't meeting people's mental health and addiction needs, and prevent the neighbourhood from thriving, said the area's Coun. Susan Stevenson.

"These are pretty heartfelt, passionate pleas for help from their city because many of them have experienced this a long time. It's coming to a breaking point, unfortunately, and they're finding a united front to say enough is enough," said Stevenson who attended both meetings.

More money for the Ark is a hard no for Stevenson because it's "wrong funding in the wrong location," she said.

"The Ark does a great job of caring for people, but unfortunately people need mental health and addiction treatment and us offering them soup and a space to come in isn't helping them," she added.

"This is the main street of a business district that city council has dedicated for improvement and so it's an unsafe space for the people on the streets and for people who want to come to these businesses."

The funding request will be decided on in Mayor Josh Morgan's budget on Oct. 29.