Heatwave forces Ark Aid Street Mission to close doors to homeless Londoners

Sweltering temperatures inside the basement of First Baptist Church on Richmond Row has made it impossible to continue to provide meals to hundreds of Londoners experiencing homelessness — so Ark Aid Street Mission has taken many of its services outdoors to Victoria Park.

“It's been unbearably hot inside the program space, that means our community members don't have access to bathrooms, showers, laundry, one-on-one meeting space,” explained Executive Director Sarah Campbell.

Last weekend, the meal program served about 150 people at lunch and 214 for dinner.

Many of those same people are now spending the afternoon in shady areas of the park and eating takeout-packaged meals supplied by Ark Aid Street Mission.

Londoners experiencing homelessness seek shade in Victoria Park, as seen on July 20, 2022. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)“It was really, really hot in there,” explained Walter Tuszinski who had dinner in the church basement earlier this week. “I think it’s good they're letting us go outside and still bring out the meals here.”

Donations are being requested for food, water, frozen treats and summer clothing for men.

Campbell said a solution has been found to provide air conditioning in the church basement, but it will cost about $20,000.

She added that city hall’s offer of assistance was not acceptable.

“The response we got back was just [to] fence the entire First Baptist location and segregate people in need on that location, and not utilize what's already available across the street in the park. We're not comfortable with that as a solution. That's not offering relief from the elements,” Campbell explained.

City hall has issued a call-to-action to enlist help from other agencies to assist Ark Aid Street Mission during the heat wave.

The basement of Fist Baptist Church in London, Ont. is too hot to serve meals, as seen as July 20, 2022. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)Civic administration continues to offer to work with Ark Aid Street Mission to find a solution.

Ark Aid Street Mission is asking Londoners to show their support by purchasing lunch at Richmond Row restaurants being impacted by the sudden appearance of so many people experiencing homelessness around Victoria Park.

Campbell suggests combatting the stigma felt by those now spending their days the park by having Londoners bring their own lunches to join Ark Aid Street Mission’s outdoor meals over the next three days at 1 p.m. for lunch or 5:30 p.m. for dinner. 

“This is a moment when we can come together and occupy this public space for the next couple of days while we are in a heatwave to say we can do better London, we do better,” Campbell said.