About the System response.
It was designed in an unprecedented collaborative process that included more than 200 individuals across 70 local organizations representing community health and social services, institutional healthcare, education and academia, emergency services, business and economic development, land and housing development and multiple levels of government.
They have agreed to break down silos and work together in a new way. Their vision is a fully-integrated system that supports the most marginalized unhoused Londoners.
The first step: hubs
The first step in that journey is Hubs which will support individuals to move safely inside, become stabilized, access wrap-around supports, be connected to the right housing and receive support to stay housed.
Dispersed locations
Located across the community rather than concentrated in one specific area, each Hub will provide a set of comprehensive core services in purpose-built spaces to improve service effectiveness, efficiency and outcomes, ultimately moving more people from London’s streets into homes.
Every interaction in a Hub is an active and intentional effort to enable an individual’s next steps toward supportive housing.
Key facts about hubs
Hubs are not for everyone experiencing homelessness; they are designed to support the approximately 600 individuals experiencing completely unsheltered homelessness, often referred to as “high acuity” populations, who have the most complex needs, and proportionately, have high levels of interactions with police, emergency services and the healthcare system.
Priority populations for the first three to five Hubs are: couples and families, Indigenous individuals, medically complex individuals, women and female-identifying individuals, youth (16-25).
Hubs will provide a range of supports in one central location, including 24/7 transitional housing, basic needs (water, food, clothing, washrooms, showers and laundry) and access to healthcare, treatment services, justice system services, income supports and housing supports, among other vital services.
There will be one phone number that anyone can call, from loved ones and caregivers to business owners, to refer individuals experiencing homelessness to these supports.
Hubs will not duplicate services already available, rather they will allow agencies to provide existing services to this population in new, more efficient and effective ways.
Be a part of change
You can learn more about the Health & Homelessness Whole of Community Response and the Hubs Plan, and give your feedback to the City of London.
Frequently asked questions
What were the Health & Homelessness Summits?
The Health & Homeless Summits were convened collaboratively by City of London, CMHA Thames Valley Addiction & Mental Health Services, London Health Sciences Centre, London Police Service, Middlesex London Health Unit, Middlesex-London Paramedic Service, and St. Joseph’s Healthcare London.
In all more than 200 individual leaders from all backgrounds and areas of expertise, representing more than 70 local organizations, came together over three summits in November and December 2022 and January 2023, with a pledge to do things differently.
The proposed system response was authored collectively by all summit participants, using insights collected in all three community sessions, and enhanced based on the real-time and post-event feedback opportunities offered to all participants.
Ultimately, the proposed system aims to support the whole community – those who are most marginalized, those working in the system, and those trying to provide support, including businesses and community members who also experience the impacts of this crisis.
What is the Whole of Community Response shared purpose?
Through the engagement to date, the response has brought together organizations and professionals with a shared purpose, and exists to provide hope, healthcare and homes to those who are marginalized and experiencing homelessness in our community, of all backgrounds and experiences.
Healthcare and a fundamental human right, and the new system places the highest priority on providing direct connections to the right housing and housing supports for every individual.
This work is developing a new system to meet people where they are without judgment, offering culturally safe, low barrier, inclusive care.
It is violence and trauma informed, built on an anti-racism and an anti-oppression framework, and supports a harm reduction approach.
What is a Whole of Community Response?
An approach that brings partners together in new ways to ensure that there are pathways to housing that:
- Meet people where they are, with the supports they need to stay housed
- Establish intentional connections to take their next steps toward greater
wellbeing while acknowledging the social, economical and health impacts on the community.
What is a Hub?
Hubs will be facilities that include common core functions, such as access to care, health and wellness services, 24/7 safe spaces, transitional and crisis beds, and one phone number to call for referral. The Hubs will also support a timely and direct pathway to housing.
What is the current stage of this work?
The work has shifted from the summits and is now focused on implementation.
- The implementation work has started with the convening of a leadership group to co-design and discuss a Collective Impact implementation model.
- While the design of the Strategy and Accountability Table is finalized and the work begins, additional implementation tables are being set up to focus on Hubs, Supportive Housing, and Encampments followed by additional implementation tables
What are the next steps?
While having an online participation option and in-person engagement sessions are critical to our process to implement Hubs this year, it is equally as important to be intentional and capture some specific input.
Soon to be added to the system implementation:
- Lived and living experience focus groups
- Business reference table
- Developers reference table
- Workforce development implementation table
Join The Movement
Doing nothing is not an option.
It’s time to show up in a new way on this issue, together, and change the story of health and homelessness in our community, forever. With a transformative gift, a monumental shift, and a made-in-London solution – there has never been a more important time to get involved.
Say you’re in and be the first to know about Fund and system updates.
If you have questions about the Movement for Change, email us at info@movementforchange.ca
Land Acknowledgement
The Heath + Homelessness Movement for Change is committed to working towards reconciliation and to supporting the recommendations of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is in this spirit that we acknowledge that the community we call London and Middlesex County is situated on the traditional Indigenous territory of the Anishinaabe, Attawandaron, Haudenosaunee and the Lenape peoples. For countless centuries Indigenous peoples have been stewards of these lands, sharing the natural resources and only harvesting what was needed for their sustenance.
We are grateful for this land, though we must recognize that it was stolen from the Indigenous peoples who originally lived on it. We also recognize the historical and ongoing injustice often faced by Indigenous peoples and communities, both within London and across Canada. This process of recognition and action is constant and with that, we are committed to the ongoing crucial steps of consideration, education, re-education, and work that are required to reconcile and create a more equitable and just community.