In Old East Village, homeless reality collides with merchants’ concerns

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Old East Village residents and businesses are set to weigh in on a multi-million-dollar proposal from a social service agency to add 90 new homeless shelter beds.

Set for Wednesday are two public meetings hosted at the Old East Village Market at 630 Dundas St. by the neighbourhood business improvement area as well as Ark Aid Street Mission, the latter proposing a plan that would cost $4.3 million annually until March 2027 and include:

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• 24-hour assessment, 40 drop-in spaces and 30 temporary overnight beds at its Dundas Street location
• 60 transitional beds at 432 William St.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of frustration with the visible homelessness and the struggles of what happens in the neighbourhood here in Old East Village,” said Sarah Campbell, Ark Aid’s executive director. “I think it’s so very important that people get an opportunity to express themselves and to be heard and understood, because their experience is very real.”

The beds were part of a $3-million winter response between December 2023 and May. Weeks before the beds were due to close, Ark Aid successfully pushed for a $687,000 extension through July, and again for a $1.8 million extension from August to December.

The last extension was granted in part for the promise that Ark Aid would bring back a year-round funding model for the 90 beds to add capacity to London’s shelter system, which had 306 beds in 2023.

Kevin Morrison is the general manager of the Old East Village BIA. He says he has “the greatest respect” for Campbell and the work of Ark Aid, but the agency’s mission has changed to the neighbourhood’s detriment.

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“Social services should not be offered in a business district, and you don’t have to look very far to realize that a lot of other municipalities actually don’t have the services as concentrated as we have in core areas,” he said. “The location really is not beneficial to us revitalizing and making . . . a vibrant community.”

He said when the Ark opened 40 years ago, it mainly offered meals and hospitality, which didn’t impact businesses in the area. But the shift to hosting shelter beds alongside 24-hour assessment on Dundas Street has changed things.

“It’s not that we’re not compassionate, because we are. We have a vulnerable group of people that needs the assistance,” he said. “The other thing I’m beginning to argue is we keep talking about the most vulnerable. Well, right now, the most vulnerable are our business owners.”

Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson has been a frequent critic of offering shelter services in the Dundas corridor. She believes the solution is mental health and addictions treatment rather than providing a space to sleep.

“As far as the Ark Aid proposal, I believe it’s the wrong funding in the wrong location,” she said. “The province needs to deal with the mental health and addiction crisis that we have and provide the treatment that’s needed. We can’t do it municipally.”

She voted against granting the $1.8 million extension for the beds on the grounds of the location, but also based on the cost to the city without a commitment from Queen’s Park or Ottawa to help fund it going forward. She said Tuesday she doesn’t wish to “stabilize the chaos that is currently there.”

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Campbell shares the concerns of local residents, saying it’s the reason they partnered with the BIA. But she said people’s frustration can be directed toward the organization rather than the “systemic issue.”

As for an alternate location, Campbell said they’re open to offering shelter elsewhere but no other locations are available or willing to host them. Ark Aid is the only 24-hour, year-round social service provider of its kind in the city, and its absence could be even worse on its clients, as well as residents and businesses.

Wednesday’s meetings are set for 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The $4.3-million annual request from Ark Aid will be presented during city hall’s 2025 budget talks.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

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