Shortage of supportive, affordable housing, council told
Norfolk County is facing a serious housing crunch, the county’s general manager of corporate services says.
“I know from my work with Norview Lodge, social services and the housing department that, just like the rest of the province, we have a serious housing crunch,” Heidy VanDyk said. “We have a serious shortage of affordable housing, we have a serious shortage of supportive housing and housing options for people to age in place or move into long-term care when the time comes.
“We are well aware this is a challenge across the province and I can say Norfolk county is not immune to that.”
Speaking at a recent budget committee meeting, VanDyk said the county has wait lists for people in long-term care and in social housing. In both cases, people in crisis move to the top of the list and the number of people in need of some form of housing is increasing.
The situation is such that it becomes difficult to reduce the number of people on the wait list, VanDyk said.
There are 436 people on the wait list for rent-geared-to-income housing in Norfolk. However, it is difficult to put a time frame on the wait because it’s difficult to predict when units will become available, a spokesperson for the county said.
While affordable housing is available in the community, the county doesn’t have a wait list for those units, the spokesperson said.
Applications for long-term care are managed through Local Health Integration Network, formerly the Community Care Access Centre.
The issue was raised by Coun. Linda Vandendriessche during budget discussions.
“We’re all getting older and I don’t feel that in Norfolk County we have sufficient space for long-term care or nursing for our future needs,” Vandendriessche said.
The provincial government has a list of long-term care homes across Ontario that can be found at www.ontario.ca/page/long-term-care-ontario . The website provides details of individual homes. A review of long-term care facilities in Haldimand-Norfolk demonstrates the need for more beds.
Norview Lodge in Simcoe is a 179-bed home and has 274 people on a wait list. Grandview Lodge in Dunnville is a 128-bed home with 162 people on the wait list. Both of those are municipally operated.
Anson Place Care Center in Hagersville has 61 beds and 42 people on a wait list.
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