How London plans to find a place to live for some of its most vulnerable people
London's manager of homeless prevention is asking council to double his budget
The city of London currently helps cover the rent for about a hundred people. It hopes to boost that number, but it needs more money.
The city's manager of homeless prevention, Craig Cooper, said his department will be asking the city to double its annual budget, from $500,000 to $1 million.
"It's an ask. It's got to be looked at from a municipal perspective with all the other asks, but it is something that we've put forward as a business case."
Police fan out to ease downtown tensions and help most vulnerable
Right now, five local agencies administer the city's rent supplement program, called Housing First, which is geared to people experiencing chronic homelessness.
That's something Cooper said his department is tweaking. "As we evolve and make some changes to Housing First, we're instituting a rapid rehousing program. It will look at housing people quickly with less acuity so that you don't have to become chronically homeless in a shelter in order to get housing supports."
City hosts housing stability week
On Monday, the city is launching a week-long clinic for homeless people at Silverwoods Arena in the Trafalgar Street and Egerton Street area. A bus will make three daily trips from the Salvation Army's Centre of Hope on Wellington Street to the arena.
"We're expecting a pretty big turnout next week," said Cooper.
People will be able to access a number of social services, including health, financial support and veterinary services. They'll also be able to bathe. And staff will do their best to find somewhere for people to live.
"We put a call out to the community, to developers, to hotel providers to see who has availability to support people next week and beyond," said Cooper.
Cooper admitted it's unclear how many people the city will be able to house immediately. He said they're also looking at putting people up in hotels or motels for up to two months at a time.
"Getting people in short stays at motels, allows us to stabilize them and then when a unit becomes available through some other relationships we're building, or if a landlord that wants to work with the city has a vacancy, we can place the individual at that point."
Currently, Cooper said they've only identified two motel rooms, but that could change. He said his department is also looking to work with landlords to house people under the rent supplement program.