'I’d just end up on the street somewhere': disabled Londoner fears impact of council’s new restriction on indoor resting spaces

City council has forbidden the use of new federal funding to operate resting spaces for homeless Londoners if they’re located on the main street of a Business Improvement Area (BIA).

The decision has potentially put 30 overnight beds in jeopardy.

On Thursday, CTV News spoke with 42-year-old Jess, who visits Ark Aid Street Mission on Dundas Street each morning to get her name on a list for one of those resting spaces.

“I really like it here,” she said while clutching a stuffed animal close to her face,” I… I have nowhere else to go.”

She began to sob.

Earlier this week a motion by Councillor Susan Stevenson was supported by the majority of council that any new resting spaces receiving funds from the upcoming $250 million federal encampment program, “not be located on the main street of any Business Improvement Area (BIA).”

A statement from Civic Administration reads, “This would include daytime and overnight resting spaces such as the CMHA Coffee House on Hamilton Road (Council approved continuing funding through May of 2025) and The Ark on Dundas Street (Council has approved funding through to end of December 2024).”

“It's too early for me to say if I can fundraise enough money or how we would continue to operate night-time space,” explained Sarah Campbell, Executive Director of Ark Aid Street Mission. “But I do know that we will be here in whatever scale and capacity our organization is able to offer to the people from the streets of London.”

Sarah Campbell, Executive Director of Ark Aid Street Mission, speaks with CTV News on November 11, 2024 (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

However, demand for resting spaces already exceeds the existing capacity - most nights people are turned away.

“I’d rather be somewhere warm instead of cold,” explained Jess who uses a walker to aid her mobility, “That way when my health gets a little better I’ll be able to walk sooner or later.”

Resting spaces differ from traditional shelter beds because they are assigned each day and intended for shorter stays.

However, Jess emphasized that a bed is a bed.

“I’d just end up going on a street somewhere,” she said about the alternative. “It's a little scary, but I'm used to it for the last six [or] seven years. I don't like it very much.”

An overnight resting space can be lifechanging: last Boxing Day, 49-year-old Rob stayed in one of the resting spaces inside The Ark. It became his first step to sobriety, a home, and now a part-time job with the organization.

“I just kept coming back to The Ark instead of spending nights on the street. This place saved my life,” he told CTV News.

Several councillors have expressed a desire that new resting spaces not be clustered in core neighbourhoods and BIA’s, but Campbell worries the new funding restriction might result in more people on the streets each night.

“This will, in fact, put the issue directly on the doorstep of our business neighbors,” she explained. “The people who need care in an indoor space [might be] looking for shelter and warmth in a doorway with a fire. Those are really my true concerns.”

Ark Aid Street Mission on Dundas Street, November 7, 2024 (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

The federal government has committed to distribute funding from its $250 million encampment fund to municipalities across the country by winter.

London’s share has yet to be determined.