Northwest London residents who support suburban homeless hub speak out

Some residents of northwest London are speaking out in favour of a 20-bed shelter in their suburban neighbourhood, worried that the voices of those opposed to the homeless hub will overpower those who support the idea.

"I'm supportive of a hub in any location. I feel it's a community issue not just a certain neighbourhood issue but the community as in the City of London, and I'm pro helping people in need," said Sam Benstead, who has lived in the Fox Hollow subdivision, close to the proposed hub, for the last 12 years.

"People just say they don't want it and there's no educated response. They speculate it will bring crime, they speculate there will be a needle explosion, they speculate their kids will be in danger and their businesses will suffer from a lack of customers, but it's all speculation of people in fear, and I think it's ridiculous."

The proposed hub at 705 Fanshawe Park Road West would be run by the Canadian Mental Health Association and Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services. If approved, it would provide 20 transitional beds for women and female-identifying individuals.

The site currently operates as a motel called the Lighthouse Inn and an adjoining restaurant and pub, The Black Pearl. For the homeless hub to go ahead, the location would have to be rezoned. The site would open in May 2024 and cost $2.6 million to operate.

"Some people are complaining that we're spending all of this money for only 20 beds. But each bed helps a person in off the street, and it doesn't matter if it's $20 million or $10 million or $1 million. It's getting someone off the street and providing shelter and services that they need. That's a great thing," Benstead said.

'We can help them in a real way'

Service hubs are a new model for the city, which like others is grappling with a homeless crisis. More than 2,000 people are experiencing homelessness in London, and more than 200 have died in the last three years.

The Fanshawe Park Road site is one of four initial hubs proposed to offer 24/7 shelter and services for the city's most vulnerable. It's part of a response championed by 200 people from more than 70 organizations and agencies that work with those experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health crises.

City councillors approved the four hubs but the debate about them, particularly the northwest location, was long and contentious. A special meeting of council is scheduled for Thursday and will include another debate about the hubs.

London resident Emily Leye lives within walking distance of 705 Fanshawe Park RoadWest.She said she doesn't usually wade into debates, but that this one was too important to sit back on.

"I think a lot of our community has forgotten that these people who are unhoused are people. They are people who are struggling, they are people who need support," she said. "Once you get into a state where you are unhoused and you're not employed, it is so difficult, nearly impossible, to claw your way back out of that without support."

It's important to have compassion for people who have had a "hard go in life," Leye said, who frequents businesses in the area where the hub is supposed to go and said she will continue to do so.

'The problem is here'

"We have to remember that drug addiction is an illness, it's not a personal failing. We have to remember that mental illness is an illness, not a weakness. When someone is mentally unwell and not getting the correct support, it can look scary on the outside. I have two kids under the age of eight, and I don't want them to be afraid of unhoused people or people with a mental illness. We don't have to be afraid of them, we need to take care of them."

The only way to get rid of crime is to make sure that people who need support have it, she added.

Allie McDowell also lives in the neighbourhood behind the proposed site. She told CBC News the opinions of those who are worried about homelessness and crime are valid, but don't take into consideration that issues already exist in northwest London.

"The problem is already here," McDowell said. "People don't seem to realize that we already have homeless people living in the area. They have tents in the forest and when you go for a walk early in the morning, you can see people that clearly spent the night outside. The problems are here whether you want it or not, so you can either try to help the problem or just keep turning a blind eye and pretend it's not there."

White Hills resident Dennis Funk echoed that sentiment. He works with a church that serves meals for people who live on a low income and are close to homelessness.

"It actually seems like a logical place for a hub to go. It's not right next door to residences," he said of 705 Fanshawe Park Road. "The reaction doesn't surprise me, but it disappoints me. People aren't thinking how this could be a solution."

There are people panhandling at intersections in every corner of London, a sign that poverty is widespread. "My hope is that people will have some compassion in their hearts. We can't ignore this."