'We could functionally end homelessness': High hopes for St. Thomas Hart Hub application

Pedestrians seen walking down Talbot Street in St. Thomas on Oct. 1, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

A group of healthcare providers and social agencies in St. Thomas has come together to apply for a provincial HART Hub location.

“We’re talking about at the end of this three-year demonstration period that we could functionally end homelessness in St. Thomas,” said Brian Elliot, executive director at The Inn, St. Thomas Elgin, a low barrier emergency shelter.

HART Hub is the provincial government’s proposed new model to fight homelessness and treat addictions. $378 million dollars in funding has been announced for 19 locations across Ontario.

The Inn St. Thomas Elgin seen in St. Thomas on Oct. 1, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

“It’s a great way to allow easier access for some underserviced clients who may be not getting the care that they need,” explained Scott May, a representative for the Elgin Ontario Health Team.

The Central Health Community Health Centre is also one of the partners. CEO Judith Wiley was asked how badly a HART Hub location is needed in St. Thomas.

“On a scale of one to ten? Eleven. Serious. I’m not exaggerating at all. We are over-capacity. The city, a couple of years ago, actually designated homelessness and the approach to housing as the critical issue,” Wiley said.

Central Community Health Centre is seen in St. Thomas, Ont. on Oct. 1, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

In August, the province announced it’s putting the brakes on supervised consumption sites, with the HART Hub model as an alternative. St. Thomas business owner, Dan Sterling, of Sterling Precision, tells CTV News he’s not in favour of it going downtown.

“Because you hear screaming and yelling and fights and all those, it’s just getting ridiculous,” he said.

The timing on applications must be quick. Partners in the St. Thomas group said they would get started as early as December.

Emergency shelter operations would effectively end by next March, with the HART Hub model taking over. Under the local proposal, construction would then get underway for up to 65 new supportive housing units, with continued construction of more than 80 new complementary units of supportive and deeply affordable housing.

Applications to become a HART Hub location have to be submitted to the province by Oct. 18.