Holiday donations ease 2025 uncertainty for Ark Aid homeless shelter, for now

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2024 has ended and, with that, the funding for homeless shelter beds being run at Ark Aid Street Mission is up in the air. LFP’s Jack Moulton caught up with its executive director, Sarah Campbell, about their holidays and the path forward.

HOW ARE THINGS RIGHT NOW?

As of now, the Ark has a plan to keep all 90 of the 2024 winter response turned year-round shelter beds open, although it will take some rejigging thanks to an abrupt rule change from city hall.

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Council decided in the fall to forbid allocating any funding toward drop-in resting spaces on the main street of any business district, meaning that in order to operate spaces inside their own Dundas Street building, the Ark has to rely solely on fundraising.

Because of that change, it’s shifting resources to accommodate 106 beds, now offering spaces for 70 people at the Cronyn-Warner building on William Street, keeping six people in transitional housing, while still aiming to keep all 30 resting spaces at their Old East Village headquarters.

To that end, Campbell said they’ve raised roughly $500,000 of their $600,000 fundraising goal, and holiday fundraising will help them through the next month.

“Londoners showed up in numbers with their donations. We had a lot of extra generosity over the holiday period,” she said. “Some of that generosity will actually hold us over into the January period, thank goodness.”

WHAT’S GOING TO BE CHANGING?

While some funds have been raised, the loss of more consistent funding from the city means that, effective Thursday, the seven-day-a-week drop-in spaces at the Ark’s 696 Dundas St. building will only operate between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m., and 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.

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Campbell said depending on funding, they aim to keep the spaces open seven days a week, but may have to focus on Monday through Friday and depend on weekend referrals.

“If we can get the money together, we’ll try to be open all weekend, because we’re one of the very few organizations that are open on weekends all the time,” she said.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER FUNDING?

Council did extend the Ark a $1.1-million lifeline during budget talks in November to keep the 90 beds open for several months, while the details of new encampment support money from the federal government are being sorted.

While that included money for 30 drop-in resting spaces, Ark Aid can’t offer them under their own roof due to the new location rule change, meaning they will need to seek out other locations to offer them.

WHAT’S THE PLAN GOING FORWARD?

Campbell plans to present their plan to use the new federal money to council later this month, including specific strategies of removing people from encampments and possible alternate locations to operate.

“I think that our current programs do a very good job of inviting people in, particularly the people who are mostly staying on the streets, are less capable of creating an encampment for themselves,” she said. “But it’s not necessarily conducive to people who want that privacy of their own tent, have a little bit more of a sense of ownership.”

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There will be an added costs of operating in new buildings that aren’t their own, and Campbell hopes to have buy-in from council and the community.

HOW TO HELP?

Given the freeze-thaw cycle of weather, the demand for donated clothes remains high, Campbell said, particularly men’s pants, coats, and other winter gear.

The agency also is seeking donations of food, toiletries, money, and volunteer hours.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@JackAtLFPress

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