I had the pleasure Thursday of joining members of city council over the lunch hour for a tour of The Station, Indwell’s 45-unit supportive housing project on Queen Street that is in the process of welcoming tenants from the city’s by-name homeless list.
We had the opportunity to tour a couple of the apartments, one a studio-style unit and the second barrier-free.
More on the accommodation later, but first my conversation with Natasha Thuemler, Indwell’s regional manager in London.
We first met almost two years ago when touring Railway City Lofts, Indwell’s first project in St. Thomas consisting of 15 micro-apartments above the transit building on Talbot Street.
Owned by the city and operated by Indwell, the units are an example of welcoming supportive housing for individuals transitioning from homelessness and mental health challenges.
Tag Archives: Coun. Steve Wookey
St. Thomas-Elgin has developed a rapid response system for supporting unhoused veterans . . . a system that can work for other vulnerable populations.
St. Thomas-Elgin has reached a significant milestone in the fight against veterans’ homelessness.
In a brief ceremony prior to Tuesday’s city council meeting (April 11), it was announced St. Thomas-Elgin becomes the second community in Canada to achieve functional zero veteran homelessness.
London was the first city in Canada to be recognized.
The goal was achieved in February of this year and Danielle Neilson, the city’s social housing and homelessness prevention supervisor explains why this is a priority.
“It is part of a federal initiative to end homelessness for all veterans across Canada. And they have put money on the table to be able to do that.
“What happens then is Built for Zero works with Canadian communities to establish a system that is set up to immediately prioritize veterans who are identified in the homeless population and assist them with obtaining housing and then housing stability to ensure that they are anchored into their home.”
St. Thomas-Elgin joined Built for Zero Canada – a national movement of over 40 communities working to end chronic and veteran homelessness – in 2021.
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Setting course for Sutherland Press building demolition
While the owner and his lawyer remain ominously quiet, it is onward and upward – or maybe that should be downward in this case – as the city stays the course on a process that will ultimately result in demolition of the Sutherland Press building.
In a conversation Friday with city manager Wendell Graves, he advised a report should come to council for the Sept. 18th meeting dealing with demolition tenders.
“The tenders are due next week,” confirmed Graves. “There was a site meeting (this past week) with numerous contractors. It seems like there is a fair bit of interest from contractors who showed up for the site meeting.”
Should council approve the winning tender bid, would demolition begin shortly afterward?
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