Ark Aid lifeline part of budget talks, again

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A London agency may get a lifeline from the city for shelter beds on the verge of closing in the middle of winter.

As talks begin among politicians next week for the 2025 budget update, on the agenda is a proposal from Ward 7 Coun. Corrine Rahman to give Ark Aid Street Mission $947,000 next year to keep 60 of 90 overnight shelter beds open.

“In the last year, I believe that Ark Aid has shown us the ability to help people transition and stabilize, to seek supports while they’re receiving service, while they have a bed at Cronyn-Warner,” she told The London Free Press.

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Those beds are located at the Cronyn-Warner building at 430 William St., which has been operated by Ark Aid since January. Initially billed as a winter response, council sought a pitch from Ark Aid to keep the beds open year-round to save money from winding their services up and down.

The agency brought back a pitch to keep both Cronyn-Warner, and 30 shelter spaces at their 696 Dundas St. location open year-round at a cost of $4.3 million.

Ark Aid’s pitch is included in the budget update but isn’t funded, with council opting to lobby both Queen’s Park and Ottawa, particularly a new $250 million fund to address encampments, for help covering the bill.

While Rahman’s motion still leaves room for federal dollars, should they arrive, the funding is pulled from a surplus of housing stability services money from this year, money from the feds to help the city house asylum claimants. That means no extra tax hike.

City staff previously have said Queen’s Park has yet to partner with Ottawa on how to distribute the new encampment funding, and they don’t know how much London might get. The possibility of putting more homeless Londoners onto the streets by the end of December loomed large for Rahman.

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“This has been an ongoing challenge in our community to find indoor spaces, and we have a provider who has been coming to us consistently over the years with winter support for those that are living unhoused,” Rahman said.

“It’s a priority to bring people inside in the cold weather, and get people to a place where they’re able to stabilize, and this is an opportunity to do so.

Sarah Campbell, Ark Aid’s executive director, said while the funding is appreciated, the proposed amount would likely only sustain Cronyn-Warner until March.

In light of council’s recent decision to restrict federal funding from being used at Ark Aid’s Dundas Street location, Campbell estimates  $3.5 million would be needed to keep the 60 beds open year-round. Ark Aid would look to use its own fundraising dollars to support their Dundas location, she said.

“What I hope civic administration and city council do is say ‘We’re going to back-fill with this funding pot as long as we need to . . . in hopes that we get enough (from the federal government) to provide this for two years consistently,’” Campbell said.

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“We need as many indoor spaces as possible year-round funded so that we can respond to an over saturation of homelessness in our community.”

Ark Aid’s beds consistently have been full while they’ve been open, Campbell said, with one person a week being referred to supportive housing or reconnected with family

Council will weigh in on Rahman’s proposal on Nov. 21 during the first budget deliberation session at 9:30 a.m. Londoners can voice their concerns to politicians on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at city hall.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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