Lambton County: Shelter and affordable housing are top priorities

Lambton County council has signaled that shelter and affordable housing are its No. 1 priorities following a presentation by a community group working to bring more affordable and supportive housing to the community.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said that’s something the county is “already doing, to some degree, but I think it’s time we said it.”

Like other communities, the number of people in Sarnia and Lambton County experiencing homelessness or struggling to find and maintain adequate and affordable housing has climbed in recent years.

Among those working to respond is a group of members of the Rotary Club of Sarnia who have been raising money and working to initiate affordable and supportive housing projects.

“There are a number of things that can be done, and other communities have done, and we as a community, the County of Lambton, could do,” Michael John Kooy, a member of the group, told council at its recent meeting.

He said group members have looked at what’s being done elsewhere in Southwestern Ontario and are “encouraged” by the work of the charity, Indwell, which owns and operates supportive housing units around the region.

The Rotary group held a public information session recently in Sarnia where an Indwell representative was part of a panel discussing how to respond to the need for more affordable and supportive housing.

While grants and loans are available from the provincial and federal governments for affordable housing, “none of that gets unlocked unless you have a project, or multiple projects that are ready to go,” Kooy said.

Private donors are also reluctant to contribute “unless they know you’ve got a project that’s going to fly,” he said.

It takes action by a local body such as the county – which is responsible for local social services and public housing “to start the ball rolling,” Kooy said.

It also takes the courage to commit significant funds to get projects off the ground, but communities that have “made a dent” in the problem “are those that have made bold moves,” he said.

The group asked county council to commit to a five-building, five-year plan to add new supportive and affordable housing.

“Most communities have not just one, but several projects at different stages of development,” Kooy said.

“We need to get multiple sites shovel-ready” to apply for federal and province funding, he said.

He asked the county to also commit to acquiring land for affordable housing, including pursing opportunities to secure land at no cost from groups willing to be partners in a project.

Kooy said the group is also asking the county “to commit to seed funding” to get zoning and other permissions in place for projects.

Those steps “would send a very clear message across the province that Sarnia-Lambton is serious about this,” and could “unlock” money from upper levels of government and private donors, as well as help to attract partners such as Indwell which is already active in Chatham-Kent and London, he said.

County council also approved applying to a federal Housing Accelerator Fund set to launch this summer to help provide affordable housing.

Valerie Colasanti said the county has set a target of building 75 affordable housing units by 2025, but when that plan is reviewed later this year “we have to have a more aggressive number.”

She said reports are expected to go to county council in coming months about providing “seed funding” to help local non-profit groups owning land with planning for potential housing projects, as well as adding a county staff position to work with them.

Colasanti said the county department has already made getting supportive housing in place a priority.

“We understand the urgency,” she said.

Colasanti took part in the panel discussion during the earlier public meeting the Rotary group held in Sarnia, where she said more than 300 individuals or families were believed to be homeless in Lambton, including those living in shelters, “precariously housed or couch-surfing. ”

The county works with shelters run by the Inn of the Good Shepherd in Sarnia, which are operating at full capacity, and recently opened a housing and homelessness prevention “hub” in a former Exmouth Street church.

Lambton also has support and outreach workers, and other programs, to help people find and maintain housing.

About 20 per cent of individuals experiencing homelessness locally are likely in need of intensive support along with affordable housing, Colasanti said.