‘I’d become part of the sidewalk’: City Hall considers up to $350K gap-funding to continue homelessness programs

City council is planning to temporarily backfill some funding for Ark Aid Street Mission and 519Pursuit following the expiry of a federal program.

A woman’s raw story of living on the streets of downtown London provided the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee with first-hand knowledge of the importance of frontline homelessness services that were recently jeopardized by the expiration of a federal funding program.

A federal program for supporting people in encampments and experiencing unsheltered homelessness ended on April 1, threatening several frontline services including outreach provided by 519Pursuit and drop-in hours at Ark Aid Street Mission.

Coun. Corrine Rahman and Mayor Josh Morgan proposed deploying interim funding from a municipal reserve account until a recently announced $125 million federal program comes online.

519Pursuit employee Michelle Boissonneault appeared as a delegate at the CAPS Committee meeting and left no one uncertain about what’s at stake.

“At the worst time of my life, I was sleeping on a heat grate at the corner of Dundas and Wellington. I’d been there so long, living in my own filth. I had flesh eating viruses and I just wanted to die,” she revealed.

“I’d become part of the sidewalk. I’d been there so long that folks trying to get to their bus stop would walk over me,” Boissonneault continued.

She then revealed how outreach workers helped save her life.

“The friendship and the connection of 519Pursuit, it started to change the narrative in my head,” she explained. “And I knew that I needed to do more with my life.”

She’s now celebrating four years sober and employed by 519Pursuit.

“This is not just about maintaining a program. This is about maintaining stability in our community,” explained Allison DeBlaire, executive director of 519Pursuit. “It is about preventing further strain on systems that already are at capacity.”

Almost two weeks ago Ark Aid Street Mission expressed similar concerns.

A total of 50 overnight spaces that operated this winter were closed.

The Ark had operated London’s only seven day-a-week open door emergency service outside regular business hours, but services at 696 Dundas St. are being gradually scaled back to just four hours per day by the end of this month.

Morgan told the CAPS Committee that gap-funding could preserve critical services until a recently announced federal funding program is in place.

“The federal government is coming forward with a renewal of $125 million, and I commend them for that,” Morgan said. “But we’ve got to provide some sort of stability in the interim so that the agencies can continue to operate while we see if we can apply that funding.”

The motion proposed utilizing up to $350,000 from a reserve fund to provide interim support for both 519Pursuit (up to $25,000/month) and Ark Aid Street Mission (up to $60,000/month) until such time as Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative (UHEI) funding or other funding from the provincial government or federal government is realized.

The funding would support:

• Transitional and supportive housing
• Shelter transformation initiatives
• Case management and support services

An amendment by Coun. Anna Hopkins would also see Civic Administration re-engage with other agencies under the UHEI program about service opportunities.

“It’s really important that we hear about the importance of outreach in our community. What you have to offer and what you have done,” Hopkins said to the delegates in the gallery, including Boissonneault.

The motion was supported by the committee.

Council will make a final decision on April 28.