Ark Aid seeks $687K from City of London to extend winter shelter response
Andrew Lupton | CBC News | Posted: May 7, 2024 8:00 AM | Last Updated: May 7
Councillors to consider proposal as need for homeless supports remains high
With winter response funding about to run out and London, Ont.'s homeless plan not yet fully up and running, Ark Aid Mission is seeking $687,000 to continue operating its shelters and services until the end of July.
The proposal for the one-time funding is coming to Tuesday's city council committee meeting with the endorsement of Mayor Josh Morgan and Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis.
The motion extends funding for the city's winter response to homelessness plan, which began in December and is set to end at the end of May. The money allows Ark Aid to provide 120 overnight beds along with other services, with 65 of those beds at the former daycare beside Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church on William Street.
Sarah Campbell, Ark Aid's executive director, said the city's need is so great that the shelter spaces need ongoing support until the hubs proposal is fully up and running.
"The shelter system from the pre-COVID era of 306 beds is woefully inadequate for the need of over 2,000 people living unsheltered," said Campbell. "We have to figure out how do we maintain some level of service while building a new system for very high-needs folks."
A series of community service hubs is the centrepiece of the city's homelessness response announced last year. But so far, only two hubs are up and running. Also, hubs have strict parameters that fall outside some of Ark Aid's existing services.
For example, hubs are supposed to be limited to 35 or fewer beds in individual bedrooms. Ark Aid's shelter on William Street serves almost double that total. The beds are cots set up in large rooms and some of their clients wouldn't qualify as high acuity as spelled out in the hubs plan.
Campbell said there needs to be consistent funding for shelter spaces and other supports that are continuous and not limited to cold-weather months.
Clients 'living better lives'
Campbell is seeing the services Ark Aid provides is having a positive effect, she said.
"We're seeing people's drug use reduced," she said. "We're seeing people go into recovery. We're seeing people living better lives and healthier lives here so that they can contemplate next steps that might not involve encampments, but actually something better for themselves."
Morgan said he supports giving Ark Aid "a little bit of runway" to keep operating until the full homelessness response is in place.
"They're playing a critical role in the homelessness space right now that I think needs to continue."
Morgan said while other organizations provide shelter spaces, shuttering Ark Aid would lead to a "capacity crunch."
"The number of spots we have is just not enough for the need out there."
Stevenson critical of 'last-minute rescue'
Coun. Susan Stevenson, a frequent critic of the city's response to homelessness, said she'll likely support continuing Ark Aid's funding because "they've done great work." However, she's concerned about the lack of a cohesive plan for city-funded shelter services.
"Why is it a last-minute agenda item, less than 24 hours before it goes to committee?" she said. "Where is the plan we were promised? This last-minute rescue, how is council supposed to make decisions like this?"
Next month, city staff are expected to present a plan to transition people from encampments to housing. Morgan said more information about that plan and details about public consultation for it will be coming this week.
The intention is to make it a year-round strategy, so funding doesn't constantly rise and fall, he said.
Campbell said the city asked her for a proposal for funding Ark Aid's shelter services year round. She's done that but said it comes with a $6-million price tag. Whenever time-limited funding reaches its endpoint, it forces Ark Aid to lay off trained staff, making it difficult to resume service should funding return.
"We cannot lay off 100 staff, turn out 120 resting spaces and find ourselves 100 per cent reliant on community donations every few months while providing secure jobs, benefits, safety and security for staff," wrote Campbell in a document handed out to politicians touring the William Street shelter.
Councillors will consider the funding proposal at Tuesday's strategic priorities and policy committee meeting.