London, Ontario has been evaluating its homelessness response and appears to have been captivated by the possibilities of “small is beautiful.” One aspect of this focus is the size of emergency shelters. The City has decided that large shelters do not properly address the diversity of needs within the homeless population and has set a maximum capacity of 30 people. There is also a suggestion that larger shelters (with less supervision?) can be more dangerous to shelter users. The changes are based on input from people use the services. Read more at CTV News: City says changes to housing homeless will diversify system
The City’s decisions have apparently caught community agencies by surprise, particularly the two that between them provide two thirds of the 300 beds that are currently available. They are now scrambling to find ways to suit the city’s requirement for maximum 30-bed shelters. Read more at CTV News: Major blow to London’s homeless population. (This article’s title is somewhat misleading. It it reflects the “blow” to the community agencies, rather than the shelter users or their activist supporters. It does, however, seem reasonable to assume a blow to shelter-users if the change to a new system temporarily or permanently reduces the number of available beds.)
A third player in this change from larger to smaller shelters may also be active, although it is not mentioned: neighbours and their inevitable NIMBY1 concerns. London has this year already seen the NIMBY influence on tent encampments, with a novel almost-acceptance. For more, try London, Ontario Homeless Encampments: Three’s a crowd. It includes yet another CTV News article that, among other details, indicates how far short the current 300 beds falls below the number of people who experience homelessness in the city.
