Encampment service depots operating by July 4 in London, Ont.

Service depots offering basic necessities to those living in encampments will be up and running by July 4, after council passed a motion funding the temporary response Tuesday evening.

Councillors voted 12-1 in favour of funding four depots along the Thames River that will provide basic needs such as water, food, hygiene, sanitation facilities, social supports and other necessities.

While work on a long-term solution to the growing homelessness and housing crisis continues, staff and councillors have stressed an immediate and compassionate response is needed to those dealing with the worst of the issue.

Kevin Dickins, deputy city manager of social and health development with the city, said the service depots are about addressing the most pressing health and safety issues.

“We have encampments that have existed in our community for a number of years and the folks that are sleeping in encampments are facing levels of depravation and desperation that really haven’t been seen before,” Dickins tells Global News. “The depots are an effort to do something now that is temporary… to just try and keep people alive.”

The depots will be set up for roughly 90 minutes at each location every day of the week for six weeks, beginning July 4. Dickins added the service depots are entirely separate from the ongoing Whole of Community Response hubs as the encampment response is temporary.

“There is no physical structural, we are not building any type of indoor space,” says Dickins. “We’re essentially coming on site, setting up our services… and then after 90 or so minutes, we would pack up the services and then be delivered at another depot.”

The motion passed by council funds four depots located in the areas of Ann Street Park, Cavendish Park, Watson Street Park and Wellington Valley Park.

To fund the six weeks of service, the city is providing $100,000 to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and London Cares. An additional $255,000 will be pulled from the social services reserve fund.

The CMHA and London Cares will be the lead community organizations leading the depots, but frontline workers and resources will be pulled from various community groups, including Ark Aid, Salvation Army and 519 Pursuit.

“We’ll be benefiting from a number of community organizations working together,” says Dickins.

The city itself will also be playing a role in the response, with the municipal services roads crew assisting with garbage collection and members of the coordinating response team on site. Safety and security personnel will also be involved, including from the London Police Service.

While the service depot plan lays out the four locations for six weeks, Dickins says the city will constantly evaluate the response and make any changes as deemed necessary.

“We are not running into this blindly, it’s really well informed by frontline experts that are in encampments every single day.”

Dickins says work continues on the hubs, though locations still need to be determined for where they will go. Once up and running later this year, Dickins adds the city will work with those in encampments to transition them to the hubs.

Council response

Deputy mayor Shawn Lewis and Ward 13 Coun. David Ferreira – whose ward includes three of the depots – said Tuesday evening they support the temporary measure so long as the city is flexible in moving the sites or shuttering the program if safety issues arise.

Lewis and Ferreira added they had received hundreds of communications from residents concerning the temporary plan.

“I get it that people are upset. I get it that people are feeling unsafe,” Lewis said. “I absolutely understand. What I don’t have is a better answer than what we are doing in the short-term.”

Ferreira echoed the comments of Lewis in saying the temporary solution brought forward by staff is the most viable path forward presently.

“Let this encampment strategy play out and then see how it is, and if it’s not working, then we have to come back to the table and figure something out,” Ferreira said. “But the alternative right now is, we don’t have any other ideas.”