SafeSpace leaving Old East Village location, transitioning to outreach service for women and sex workers

SafeSpace in the Old East Village, in London, Ont. as seen on April 14, 2023. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

A drop-in shelter for women and gender-nonconforming Londoners living unsheltered is closing its doors in the Old East Village and transitioning to an outreach service.

As of Oct. 12, SafeSpace London will stop providing services at its location at the corner of Dundas and Lyle (679 Dundas Street) and pivot to an outreach model that brings services directly to clients experiencing homelessness.

Describing the change as a “pivot,” the agency will no longer be able to provide services such as showers, laundry, and resting spaces.

Training the agency’s members to perform outreach in the community will require a pause in service.

Executive Director Jenna Rose Sands was unavailable to speak with CTV News about the changes when contacted on Wednesday afternoon.

Coun. Susan Stevenson said the location in the OEV business district was always intended to be temporary.

“It was a new thing that was done temporarily out of [an] emergency situation,” she explained. “It was always meant to be temporary. Council did not renew the funding after the end of May."

SafeSpace opened the shelter in early 2023 as part of the city's Winter Response to Homelessness.

In March of this year, Stevenson opposed a short-term renewing of municipal funding for SafeSpace’s location in OEV because it did not align with a policy in the Core Area Action Plan to avoid an oversaturation of frontline agencies within a single area.

At the time, however, a majority of council (14-1) supported a two-month extension for $129,000.

After funding expired, the agency continued to operate the location with donations.

SafeSpace describes itself as a support centre for sex workers, allies, and women in crisis.