With colder and snowy days ahead, eight homeless advocate agencies and the city have launched expanded winter shelter and essential services.
The new supports being offered will give the roughly 400 people living on the streets of London a place to warm up, rest, shower, eat, and do laundry.
The head of the organization in charge of the rollout said multi-agency engagement, along with up to $5 million in funding from the city, was key to ramping up services offered to the unhoused during the coldest months of the year.
“We’ve all agreed that we have to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to keep our community’s most marginalized safe and sheltered during the harsh winter months,” said London Cares Executive Director Anne Armstrong. “Hiring this many people this quickly in our sector is always a challenge and the extra runway to hire staff and coordinate extensively with our partners to get it done was key.”
London Cares, Unity Project, Atlohsa Family Healing Services, the Salvation Army Centre of Hope, Ark Aid, Canadian Mental Health Association-Coffee House, Safe Space, 519 Pursuit and the city all collaborated on this year’s winter response plan. It builds on last year’s response that saw new overnight drop-in spaces downtown and two pop-up shelters – one at Fanshawe Golf Course, the other on the grounds of St. Joseph’s Parkwood Institute.
There will now be 140 overnight spaces available at various locations. Round-the-clock drop-in spaces opened Ark Aid at 696 Dundas Street last Thursday and at the Salvation Army Centre of Hope at 281 Wellington Street on Monday. More spaces are slated to open later this month and in January. During cold weather alerts, an additional 56 spots will also be opened to keep people warm.
Drop-in services also opened as of this week at the CMHA Coffee House at 371 Hamilton Rd., the First Baptist Church at 568 Richmond St., and Salvation Army Centre of Hope. The coffee house and church are offering a mix of food, bathrooms, laundry, harm reduction, phone and internet, connection to supports, and door service between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Centre of Hope is providing shower use on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. More essential drop-in services will open at the London Cares Community Hub at 602 Queens Ave. in the new year.
“Winter is an incredibly difficult time for Londoners who are unsheltered, especially for those living with mental health or addiction concerns,” said Beth Mitchell, co-CEO of CMHA Thames Valley Mental Health and Addictions Services. “We are pleased to be able to offer extended evening hours at the London Coffee House this winter, thanks to a partnership with the City of London’s Winter Response Plan. These extended hours will augment our regular daytime hours of operation, which are funded by the United Way.”
Londoners interested in contributing to the winter response can contact London Cares to find out what items are most needed.
