'The minister was aware of what we are doing': St. Thomas’ affordable housing plans making noise across Ontario

St. Thomas, Ont. is quickly making a name for itself when it comes to provincial leaders.

“That really showed this year at the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference,” said Joe Preston, St. Thomas’ mayor.

“Almost every minister we asked for a deputation with said ‘Yes’. Last time we got three out of eight or something. This time it was seven,” he said.

Premier Doug Ford even gave a shout out to Preston during his opening speech at AMO. Ford referred to Preston as ‘Mayor Let’s Get it Done’.

Preston and other city representatives were thrilled to meet with Steve Clark, minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, who actually was aware of what was happening in his city. He credits local MPP Rob Flack with promoting his riding.

They spoke about new housing development ‘The Station’ and the need for funds to complete ‘Project Tiny Hope’ (PTH).

“[Clark] was well informed on [PTH], and knew where we were with The Station opening,” said Preston.

“He knew we are searching through our own city-owned land and other developers’ land as to where we can go next and what we can do next. It’s pretty positive when the Housing Minister already knows everything going on in your community,” he added.

St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston (left) and MPP for Elgin-Middlesex London Rob Flack (right) met with ministers at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in London, Ont. in August 2023. (Source: Rob Flack)

Six residents have now moved into The Station, the latest affordable housing community in St. Thomas.

The building at 16 Queen St. is the 13th building in the region built by Christian-based charity Indwell, which offers multiple supports.

The new building has 45 one-bedroom units with basic furniture. It has a mix of accessible and barrier free units with an average size of 450 square feet.

“Our supports include the food facilitator, managing the daily hot meal, psychosocial, so planning various activities for individuals to engage in,” said Natasha Thuemler, Indwell regional manager.

“We have addiction support, housing support, and also an RPN. So we know having immediate access and that that level of wraparound support to then integrate with community services is really valuable to individuals as they transition from one place to another,” said Thuemler.

Preston said those who have moved in are coming off the homelessness list.

“We've been working on built to zero for homelessness in St. Thomas and this is the next big event in that pathway,” said Preston. “I'd love to see at least one more the size of The Station. We think we pretty much hit critical zero if we get it.”

Preston added they may not need Indwell to manage the next few buildings, but their help has been essential thus far.

The Station is Phase 2 of Indwell’s goal of providing 100 housing units, after the Railway City Lofts put 15 units on the second floor above the transit hub.

The Station features a community garden, and will eventually be home to a fire station to serve the west end of the city.

They’ve only put six people into the new building, but each one of those is equally satisfying.

“Handing those keys over to individuals is a really exciting opportunity,” said Thuemler. “We know that the need is vast within all of our communities across Ontario and seeing the smile on people's face when they know they have a safe and secure community that they now belong to is really valuable.”