More supportive housing anticipated in Lambton housing plan update

A focus on more supportive housing will be part of a pending update to Lambton’s housing and homelessness plan.

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So says social services general manager Valerie Colasanti about the 2020-2024 plancrafted in 2019 and in line for a refresh.

“When we did the plan prior to the pandemic, we weren’t really looking at aggressively building supportive and affordable housing,” Colasanti said, noting the strategy calls for building about 75 affordable and supportive housing units.

“We know we need far more now,” she said, after “the world shifted quite a bit (in terms) of housing and homelessness.”

Making sure there are supports to help people retain tenancies is another focus, she said, noting it also will tie in with a Lambton drug and alcohol strategy.

Details are still pending on when, but extensive public consultation is expected as part of the plan-crafting process, she said.

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The plan also will be informed by the county’s broader strategic plan, she said, that includes a section on community development health and wellness.

It’ll also draw on a report from earlier this year on supportive and affordable housing strategic development that called for building 490 affordable units, 300 of them supportive, she said.

Supportive housing has been described as affordable units with around-the-clock social and medical services on site.

The pending plan update, legislatively required, Colasanti said, is the latest development amid ongoing housing and homelessness concerns in the community, including a tent encampment in Sarnia’s Rainbow Park.

John Barnfield, a member of a local volunteer group that recently held a community forum to get people talking about possible made-in-Sarnia solutions, said he’s also eager for a strategic plan that involves the city and Lambton County.

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Similar plans have been crafted in places such as London and St. Thomas informing their respective approaches to helping people into housing, he said.

“A strong, unified community is what our goal and hope is,” he said, after group members recently visited St. Thomas to learn more about that community’s approach.

The group also recently arranged a meeting involving top city and county politicians and bureaucrats, and hopes are to do so again soon, he said.

Meanwhile, people are encouraged to keep asking questions and engaging with the group by emailing [email protected]he said, noting hopes are to host another community forum later this month.

Details haven’t been determined yet, Barnfield said.

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Sarnia recently voted not to donate the city’s Victoria Street parking lot to the county, amid objections from the community.

It was one among five sites identified for supportive and affordable housing in the February plan by Flourish, a consulting company created by Ontario supportive housing provider Indwell.

No decisions have been made on location adjustments yet, Colasanti said.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, who was against council’s decision to receive and file a report proposing the parking lot’s donation, said he’s seen more pushback on projects related to housing and homelessness since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lambton has made housing its top priority, and committed in February to opening its first supportive and affordable housing site within 18 months.

“Which is appreciated,” Bradley said.

“There’s a lot of things that have happened. It’s just being aware now that anything that comes forward is going to probably face some real challenges,” he said.

It’s up to politicians to hear people’s concerns while making sure people have the correct information, he said.

“If the goal is noble and the goal is needed in the community, then it’s up to us to champion that,” he said.

[email protected]

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