Ark Aid scores $3.7M in city funding — more than expected — following heated debate

London City Council agreed to continue funding Ark Aid Mission's emergency shelter and daytime drop-in spaces for another year on Tuesday night, pumping nearly $3.7 million into the service. 

The decision came after a sometimes-heated debate as to whether the Old East Village (OEV) shelter should be allowed to operate its drop-in spaces along Dundas Street.

By the end of the lengthy debate, councillors voted in favour of renewing Ark Aid's funding for another year in separate packages for two of its operations.

The first piece of funding approved is $3,078,130 for the period of April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. That money would fuel 70 emergency shelter spaces at Ark Aid's 432 William St. location, and was approved almost unanimously.

The second — and by far most contentious — piece of funding, is $610,577 for the same period of time to fund daytime drop-in space at the Ark Aid Street Mission at 696 Dundas St. It was approved in an 11-3 vote.

Although the multi-million dollar emergency shelter funding ask was approved during the last meeting of the Community and Protective Services Committee, funding for the daytime spaces was shot down at that same meeting in March.

That drop-in space funding was revived when Ward 13 Coun. David Ferreira asked his colleagues to consider it despite its removal from the committee report.

Concerns about impact on Old East Village

The decision came despite councillors voting 9-6 last November to proclaim resting spaces — which are not drop-in spaces — should be kept away from the main drags of the city's business improvement areas (BIAs) following pressure from residents and businesses who said services such as Ark Aid attract crime and other problems.

Tuesday's debate saw council members trade barbs. Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson, whose ward encompasses Old East Village, pleaded with her colleagues to refuse to fund the drop-in spaces.

"The lives of the people on our streets matter, but so do the lives of the people in Old East Village," Stevenson said. "We are hurting them by using taxpayer dollars to continue to fund an agency that is a magnet for people who don't have a place to be."

Drop-in spaces mean homeless people also hang out in parking lots, on sidewalks and close to businesses and create potential safety concerns, she said. 

"Listen to me. Listen to the BIA. Please don't do this," Stevenson pleaded.

Stevenson also argued that the move was not in line with a push to stop centralizing homelessness and addictions support services downtown and in east London in order to spread the burden more evenly across town.

On one hand, OEV businesses and the local BIA have reported experiences in line with those mentioned by Stevenson on Tuesday. 

On the other hand, businesses in other parts of the city recently asked council to strongly consider funding the drop-in spaces to avoid shifting the burden elsewhere.

No other service to step in, McAlister says

Councillors in favour of funding the drop-in spaces, meanwhile, said Ark Aid can't reasonably be asked to move the spaces on such short notice, and the alternative option of losing the spaces isn't an acceptable trade-off.

"I find it a bit reckless and inhumane because essentially you're stopping service. There's no alternative location," said Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister. "Closing down a service with no fall back, I think, is very dangerous. I think it's going to probably damage the neighborhood even more. You don't just close the service and then magically all of this disappears."

Ward 2 Coun. Shawn Lewis questioned whether concerns surrounding safety and crowding are entirely attributable to Ark Aid.

"I think that Ark Aid has done their very best to be a better neighbour. I have some concerns about ... others who think they're helping that are not Ark Aid, on that street handing out food, handing out other things and attracting more problems," Lewis said.

Although council decided last year to limit the impact resting spaces have by not allowing them on main streets, there's a difference in resting spaces and drop-in spaces, said Kevin Dickins, deputy city manager for social and health development.

"When we look at a resting space, we're typically looking at a quiet dedicated area where individuals can go and rest and sleep temporarily," Dickins said.

"[Daytime drop-in is] more quick random touch points ... meals, showers, washrooms, connection to social workers, very hands on, very transactional."