Proposed Old East Village shelter expansion meets heavy community resistance

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The future of nearly 100 shelter beds for the city’s homeless remains unclear after an outpouring of frustration from Old East Village residents and businesses during public engagement meetings.

Around 100 residents and business owners were present at the Old East Village Market Wednesday evening. The topic of conversation: a $4.3 million a year proposal from Ark Aid Street Mission until March 2027 to offer:

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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.

The meeting, one of two hosted by the business improvement area (BIA) and Ark Aid, were part of a direction from city council after they granted Ark Aid a $1.8 million funding extension to operate the beds from August to year’s end.

Residents at times became rowdy, shouting over or interrupting speakers, and generally expressing frustration at crime, garbage and open drug use, and Ark Aid’s location at 696 Dundas St.

Some residents were more sympathetic toward Ark Aid and their work, saying people should direct their frustration to government instead. That included Stephanie Clark, whose daughter Olivia died outside the Ark Aid building in an encampment fire in April 2023.

“We’ve come here this evening with great empathy in our hearts for this community, for the homeowners, for the businesses. . . . What you are living through is horrific,” she said. “(Ark Aid) are not the enemy, the money is going to save people, not for them to do drugs. What we all need to look at is what governmentally can happen to change.”

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Sarah Campbell, executive director of Ark Aid, said while discussions strayed from what services they are proposing and the upcoming city budget, she believes the frustration highlights her point that there is a lack of services being offered in the city.

“We did try to point to that in the meeting, what are some practical ways that we can support the neighbourhood better?” Campbell said. “There was some calls to action that were highlighted, the advocacy to upper levels of government for appropriate services, . . . enforcement and cleanup of the area.”

Old East Village BIA general manager Kevin Morrison said he will be taking the feedback and suggestions from the meetings, and bring proposals to city hall, including having the city help Ark Aid find a new location for their shelter services.

“A lot of people have indicated that enough is enough,” Morrison said.

He suggested shelter space could be pushed to industrial areas of the city, and Campbell says they agree their services should move, but they have been unable to find a location.

Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson has committed to voting against the extension of funding past this year, telling The London Free Press she is unwilling to raise property taxes to fund “charity work,” and the province should step in with more mental health and addictions resources.

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“We talk about not downloading things to the municipality, and this is just way, way, way beyond what we can do,” she said.

Mayor Josh Morgan agrees, saying he hasn’t changed his view that the city would need help to fund Ark Aid’s proposal. He said a decision on whether or not he includes it in his Oct. 28 preliminary budget could boil down to conversations with Queen’s Park and Ottawa. Council also has the ability to amend Morgan’s budget.

He referenced a recently announced federal fund for cities to help address encampments, and a recent application the city has made to host a provincial recovery hub.

“Where this ultimately lands in the budget is going to be a function of all of those pieces coming together before we engage in the budget process,” he said. “The consultations are really important; there’s pieces (at) play federally and provincially.”

Any lack of funding could leave Ark Aid and its clients in a precarious position, however. Campbell says that without funding the beds would close and the agency would have to pivot, and in the process would stray further from the city’s homelessness goals.

The beds would be closed at the end of December with no alternatives, leaving dozens without a place to sleep during the coldest point of the year, she said.

“It gives me significant pause. This will be the fifth year of doing something for winter, and if it doesn’t go forward, I would have major questions about where we are as a community,” Campbell said.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

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