New homeless plan calls for 24/7 mini-shelters to be set up all over London

A new plan to address London's housing crisis calls for up to 15 hubs —essentially mini shelters — to be created all over the city to give people living in crisis the opportunity to have their basic needs met and to get support finding housing. 

Those hubs would be open around the clock and would serve between 25 and 30 people at each location, said Scott Courtice, the executive director of the London Intercommunity Health Centre, which treats people living on the city's streets.

Right now we don't have a 24/7 response to homelessness in London and we don't have places for people to be and be safe 24/7," Courtice said. "This lets us get people inside as quickly as possible and doesn't require them to leave. It allows them to stay as long as they they need to stay." 

Courtice was one of more than 200 people who attended three summits since November to come up with community solutions to the triple emergency of mental health, addiction and housing in London. 

"Right from the beginning of the process we heard loud and clear about two critically important hallmarks of the system. The first is that it needs to be people centred and housing centric," Courtice said. "Equally important is that it has to be intentionally designed to get people housed."

In the past three years, advocates say more than 200 people have died on London's streets. Currently in the city, some shelters are open at night but closed during the day, and drop-in centres are open during the day but closed at night. The plan calls for these hubs to be open 24-7, with five to be built as soon as possible, with more in the future.

How the hubs will work: 

• People could come in on their own, or be referred by doctors, police or community members.
• There were be transportation to move people to where they need to be between the hubs and other parts of the city.
• Basic needs such as food, showers and place to rest would be provided.
• There would be quick access to acute and primary care to prevent unnecessary visits to the hospital. 
• Connections to health and wellness services, mental health and addiction supports, and anything else people need to be available as well.
• The hubs are more flexible than traditional shelters because people can come and go when they want and there aren't as many rules. 

Watch: CMHA's Beth Mitchell explains the vision for the hubs

London's bold new plan to fight homelessness

2 years ago

Duration 0:57

One of the first steps to relieve homelessness in London is to open 24/7 hubs around the city. Beth Mitchell, head of the Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley - Addiction and Mental Health Services, explains the vision.

The system would be designed to connect people with housing, from deeply affordable rent-geared-to-income independent living to supportive housing. 

The draft plan calls for five hub locations to start, working up to 12 to 15 of them throughout London, and centralized outreach and intake, so there's one number to call to get help for those who need it. 

"The model does not work without housing at its foundation and with an increased stock of appropriate housing that must be and will be part of the implementation process," Courtice said. 

Among those working on the plan are developers, who say they want to add their expertise to help fight the homeless crisis. 

"Our view is, we don't have the skill set to help with the people side of this, but we can help in terms of the physical need. What square footage the hubs should be, how many bathrooms, are there any properties that we know of that could fit the bill?" said Mike Wallace, who heads the London Development Institute, an umbrella group for London's biggest developers such as Drewlo, York and Tricar. 

"Developers want to be involved, they want to add value and they want to participate in making London a better place." 

The community plan calls for 100 high-support housing units to be built immediately, and 600 more over the next three years. The seed money for some of the plan will come from a $25-million donation from an anonymous London couple, who want the cash used for to help solve the housing crisis. 

City politicians will get a look at the draft plan at a committee meeting on Feb. 28 and there's already a plan underway to lobby provincial and federal levels of government for ongoing funding. 

The plan has the support of both of London's hospitals, the London Homebuilders' Association, the London Economic Development Corporation, along with the major social service agencies in the city.