Atlohsa asks for support calling fire at Indigenous-led shelter site 'unlikely coincidence'
Angela McInnes | CBC News | Posted: November 8, 2021 11:13 PM | Last Updated: November 8, 2021
The site was intended to house 30 Indigenous people experiencing homelessness through the winter
Organizers of London's first Indigenous-led winter shelter are "disheartened and saddened" after a suspicious fire caused an estimated $1 million in damages to the site. But they said Monday that they're not giving up on the project, asking instead for help securing a new location.
"We're feeling really shocked, and we have really heavy hearts," said Andrea Jibb, director of community planning for Indigenous non-profit Atlohsa Family Healing Services.
"We're left with a lot of questions and a lot of confusion about what this means for the response, and where we might be able to provide support for up to 30 Indigenous people experiencing homelessness that the site was intended for."
Emergency crews were called to the scene of the fire Sunday morning at the River Road Golf Course. The blaze tore through the clubhouse where meals were to be prepared and culturally sensitive activities for residents would take place.
No one was injured in the fire, which burned through the rear of the clubhouse and then made its way through the inside of the building. Police and Ontario's Office of the Fire Marshal are now involved in the investigation.
"It's unlikely a coincidence that a piece of property that has been left untouched for at least the last year was burned down two days after Atlohsa publicly announced it as a resource to support Indigenous homelessness," said Atlohsa executive director Raymond Deleary in a statement on Monday.
Deleary went on to note this is the second fire in London this year targeting an Indigenous space. In April, the Indigenous Medicine and Teaching Garden in east London's South Branch Park was burned.
"We can't help connect this to other experiences of anti-Indigenous discrimination in London. We are currently working with the City of London to secure a safe location for the program," Deleary said.
"Very few alternatives" remaining
The proposal for the shelter was endorsed by the City of London's community and protective services committee on Nov. 2.
The shelter would have been part of a larger winter homelessness response program that also saw east London's Fanshawe Golf Course accommodating three dozen non-Indigenous people in retrofitted trailers.
City council still needs to fully approve the shelter, and is scheduled to decide its fate on Nov. 16. If approved, the shelter would operate from Dec. 1 to March 31, 2022.
"This was a secured location for community members in need, and we are left with very few alternatives," said Jibb.
"We'd like to put a call out to the community for support in our efforts to find a suitable and safe location that meets our needs to support land-based healing for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness."
She said the space needs to accommodate retrofitted trailers for 30 people, with a space for wraparound services, and access to land for cultural-based healing.
According to Atlohsa, Indigenous people make up at least 29 per cent of people experiencing homelessness in London.