The solution to homelessness is housing and housing with supports.
That was the message from Danielle Neilson, the city’s Homelessness Prevention and Housing Programs Coordinator in a presentation to city council earlier this month.
She told members that homelessness in St. Thomas is at levels never seen before due to system level errors that have accumulated over the years.
She adds, surviving homelessness often means compromising one’s physical or mental health and sometimes it leads to a dependency on life-altering, highly addictive substances to numb these realities.
Although they are nowhere as extensive as those found in large urban centres, St. Thomas is now having to deal with homeless encampments.
Neilson explained to city council why the homeless choose to camp out and how her department will deal with encampments.
Neilson outlined to council a protocol to dismantle these encampments within a day of advising the occupants they must move on.
She stressed St. Thomas is making headway as it deals with an unprecedented level of homelessness.
Since July 2020, 410 unique people have been identified as homeless, 244 have been housed, 50 went inactive which means they haven’t touched the system in more than three months and 116 remain active today with 100 in St. Thomas and the remainder in Elgin county.
Neilsen added, “Each month approximately 10 to 12 people move from the list into housing.”
She pointed to the partnership with Indwell – a Christian-based charity that has built supportive housing for more than 700 individuals in London, Woodstock, Simcoe and Hamilton – and their first project, Railway City Lofts (pictured above).
Neilson continued, “This spring we look forward to opening the doors on Indwell’s second build (on Queen Street) . . . with further milestone reductions being achieved.
“But more importantly, it will result in real solutions for ending homelessness in the lives of our most vulnerable neighbours, family and friends.
Neilson stressed to council, “we need to ensure we continue prioritizing and expediting the building and operating of housing as the ultimate solution to solving homelessness.”
Written by Ian McCallum
