Ambitious, yet vague plan to address London's homelessness crisis passes first political hurdle

A city hall committee has endorsed an ambitious, yet vague multi-million dollar strategy to address homelessness in London, Ont., with a unanimous 14-0 vote in favour of the plan on Tuesday. 

People sleeping rough, often with severe, untreated mental illness have been become a heartbreaking feature of daily life in London, Ont. Over the years, the problem has driven out businesses, made the public feel unsafe downtown and has affected the homeless themselves who sometimes die alone in the street. 

The plan hopes to succeed where others have failed by using what it calls a "people-centred, housing centric" approach that takes into account input from hundreds of people from dozens of organizations, including the police, poverty activists, homeless relief agencies and the people living on the streets themselves. 

The plan is still in broad strokes and many of the details have yet to be decided, but on Tuesday councillors heard that within the first year, the plan looks to spend $2.8 million dollars to build 100 units of housing along with five 24/7 homeless hubs, part of a wider long-term plan that hopes to provide some 600 housing units and 12 to 15 hubs around the city. 

In front of a public gallery filled with dozens of homeless relief workers and poverty activists, Mayor Josh Morgan moved the plan's recommendation himself, taking the time to thank the people on the frontline of the city's homelessness crisis during his speech, where he also urged his fellow politicians to support the plan. 

"Before you today you see the first step in our opportunity to be part of the solution," he said. "I don't think there will be anything more important for our time on council than this."

Morgan urged councillors to set their political and ideological differences aside in order to come together to support the plan, which, even in its hazy level of detail, took months of work by hundreds of people in dozens of frontline organizations across the community. 

"What we are doing here is truly leading the way," he said, noting that even though cities across the province are struggling to address the people sleeping in their streets, no other community has had the good fortune of receiving an anonymous $25 million donation from a wealthy family to address the problem. 

Other councillors also shared their thoughts, noting the issue was front and centre on the doorsteps and porches of the city during the city's recent election campaign last fall. 

"I know the people in my ward really care about what's happening," said Ward 4 councillor Susan Stevenson Tuesday, noting that the large donation by a wealthy family has only served to pique the interest of voters.

Stevenson proposed an amendment to the plan in the form of monthly reports on spending in order to ensure the financial windfall the city received is spent appropriately, which the committee supported 12 to 2.

"We, as a council and a community, want to see this problem addressed," said ward 8 councillor Steve Lehman. 

"Will this end homelessness and mental health in our community? No, but it will be a gigantic step in the right direction." 

Throughout the committee meeting, many of the councillors, including the mayor heaped praise on deputy city manager Lynne Livingstone, crediting her leadership for bringing the usually disparate and sometimes competing groups of homeless relief agencies, poverty activists, social workers and law enforcement agencies together to come up with a new approach.