London plans fewer emergency shelter beds with an eye to stable housing
CBC
Some London, Ont. emergency homeless shelters will have to cut beds next year as the city rethinks how it transitions more people into permanent housing.
Shelters will be funded to allow a maximum of 50 beds per location, one of the terms in a City of London request for proposals (RFP) for new contracts. The city wants to divert more people into stable housing, with the emergency shelter system playing a secondary role.
The City of London's Director of Housing Stability Services, Craig Cooper, said the 50 bed number came from consultations with people who use and work in the shelter system.
"We heard that large shelters are challenging for people to attend to, and that there's a need for smaller services and smaller shelters to be in the city," Cooper said Tuesday.
In August, more than 1200 people in London were homeless, according to city records.
London currently helps fund five shelters, including the Salvation Army's Centre of Hope, one of the city's largest with 117 beds.
"We would still want 50 beds at the Centre of Hope," Executive Director Jon DeActis said. "Other organizations can apply for this as well, so my hope is that there are enough [shelters] that would take care of all these folks that are struggling with homelessness."
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