St. Thomas-Elgin has reached a significant milestone in the fight against veterans homelessness.
In a brief ceremony prior to Tuesday’s city council meeting, it was announced St. Thomas-Elgin becomes the second community in Canada to achieve functional zero veteran homelessness.
London was the first city in Canada to be recognized.
The goal was achieved in February of this year and Danielle Neilson, the city’s social housing and homelessness prevention supervisor explains why this is a priority.
Neilson adds St. Thomas-Elgin is part of the Built for Zero Canada community – a national movement of over 40 communities working to end chronic
and veteran homelessness – with two priority populations, veterans and chronic homelessness.
After joining Built for Zero Canada in 2021, St. Thomas-Elgin has developed a rapid response system for supporting unhoused veterans by adopting some core principles.
Neilson says these principles can by employed to assist other populations at risk of homelessness.
Shawn, an Elgin county veteran, was at imminent risk of experiencing homelessness.
Fortunately, St. Thomas-Elgin has built a system that can respond quickly to veterans who become homeless and ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-reoccurring.
Neilson recounts Shawn’s situation.
She explains the system used to identify vets in St. Thomas and Elgin county.
Moving forward, St. Thomas-Elgin aims to reach absolute zero homelessness.
To get there, the community will continue to strengthen partnerships with veteran organizations and prioritize veterans experiencing homelessness for housing opportunities when they meet eligibility criteria.
Written by Ian McCallum
