924/928 Sydenham Road

Shelter Operations

This new shelter will have a minimum 30 bed capacity, with room for an additional 15 beds as needed, and especially in consideration of the annual increased need for shelter beds seen each winter. The shelter will offer emergency shelter services to individuals experiencing homelessness, The shelter will be fully staffed and will offer space for couples, pets and the overnight storage of personal items. Showers and limited meal services will be offered on site. In addition to shelter services, the shelter operator will work with clients to connect to individualized case management to support individuals working to transition into housing beyond emergency shelter services.

Shelter operations will be contracted out and an operator will be selected following the City’s procurement By-Law Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

The shelter operations at 924 Sydenham Road will be operated out of a modular shelter structure to be installed on the property. This approach supports a number of desired outcomes: it allows for the rapid development of new shelter options in new locations; it reduces municipal costs by avoiding costly renovations; it allows the modular component(s) of the shelter(s) to be eventually removed and deployed elsewhere in the City for similar or alternate municipal purpose, and it allows properties acquired by the City to be developed over time to other municipal uses – including the potential future development of transitional and affordable housing responsive to future needs along the housing continuum.

In the short term, the existing house on the property will remain and be utilized to support the shelter services as office or storage spaces, and/or as additional emergency housing support in the form of pre-transitional and or congregate living accommodations. These opportunities would be included as part of the RFP process and defined within the scope of services to be delivered by the future site operator.

Accessibility

The new modular emergency shelter building will be fully accessible and offer accessible space in all shared congregate areas.

Community Integration and Community Liaison Committee

The City is committed to providing ongoing updates, receiving questions, and guiding a constructive community-led engagement process to those neighbourhoods nearest to 924 Sydenham Road. The intent is to ensure clear and consistent communication with the community and raise awareness of future engagement opportunities designed to hear concerns and to collaborate on how this new shelter location can be successfully integrated into the surrounding community

Moving forward this will include near neighbour community meetings and the creation of a Community Liaison Committee. The CLC is a means of connecting near neighbours, business owners, site operators and City support teams to share information, address questions, discuss challenges and collaborate on integrating housing services into neighbourhoods and addressing community concerns.

Upcoming community meeting dates are posted on the right side of this page, under Key Dates. Questions about the new shelter can be shared using the question tool below. Staff will aggregate questions by theme and respond through the frequently asked questions section of this project page.

Meeting notes, presentations, council reports and news releases will be shared through the links and related documents section of this project page.