Homelessness Hub in Leamington expanding to offer overnight services
The County of Essex is expanding overnight services at the Essex County Homelessness Hub (ECH2).
The facility is located at 215 Talbot Street East in Leamington.
Operated by Family Services Windsor-Essex (FSWE), the ECH2 will offer a safe place for people to attend every night from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., seven days a week, starting July 21, 2025, and running through to March 2026.
'The overnight program is an essential resource for rural residents experiencing homelessness, offering not only immediate shelter but also a compassionate connection to support. At FSWE, we're committed to supporting individuals as they navigate services and build pathways toward stable housing and improved overall well-being,' said Bryan Rock, community programs manager at FSWE.
This initiative builds on the previous warming centre model, which offered a similar service starting in December of 2024 and ending in March of 2025. The overnight program will be operational seven days week until at least March of 2026, providing greater safety, stability, and access to supports for County residents experiencing homelessness.
'Homelessness is no longer just a big city problem and the Essex County Homelessness Hub is an important pillar of the County's response to homelessness in the region,' said Warden Hilda MacDonald, who is also the Mayor of Leamington.
'This expansion reflects Essex County Council's ongoing commitment to services and community partnerships that prioritize the health and well-being of some of the County's most vulnerable residents. The need is great and growing and we are committed to meeting that needm,' she said.
From December 2024 through the end of March, the ECH2 overnight service recorded 918 visits, with a peak of 37 unique individuals in a single week in February 2025. During the same period, daytime services at the ECH2 supported 245 unique individuals and logged 4,715 visits.
'The overnight program is an essential resource for rural residents experiencing homelessness, offering not only immediate shelter but also a compassionate connection to support. At FSWE, we're committed to supporting individuals as they navigate services and build pathways toward stable housing and improved overall well-being,' said Bryan Rock, Community Programs Manager at FSWE.
The ECH2 will continue to operate daytime hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, offering a range of wraparound supports including housing navigation, replacing identification, assistance accessing income support programs, harm reduction resources, eviction prevention, and access to food, clothing, and hygiene items.
For more information about the Essex County Homelessness Hub and available services, visit www.countyofessex.ca/homelessness-hub or call 519-326-8629 ext. 395.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
LaSalle, Ont. siblings squeeze the day for charity
Leah and Lindon seen with their lemonade stand in LaSalle, Ont. on Aug. 2, 2025. (Source: Brandi Liles) A pair of LaSalle, Ont. siblings manned arguably the busiest lemonade stand in town on Saturday to help support animals in need of a new home. As each customer approached, Leah Whited, 7, filled the cup with ice, and her brother Lindon, 11, poured in the lemonade. Along with sales of books and cookies, the siblings raised $500 for the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society. 'Leah has been asking for a long time for a lemonade stand. So, we decided to do a lemonade stand with cookies and books, and we decided that all the money is going to go to the Humane Society,' explained Lindon. To prepare for the day, Leah said they painted, made signs and, of course, lemonade. When asked why selling the ice-cold beverage was so important, she promptly responded, 'To help the animals.' Among the many visitors in attendance were members of the LaSalle Fire Service, who arrived in a firetruck. LaSalle lemonade stand for animals Leah and Lindon serve firefighters at their lemonade stand in LaSalle, Ont. on Aug. 2, 2025. (Source: Brandi Liles) 'All the money we're helping everyone when we donate, we're helping the animals. I know Leah really likes to help the animals because she loves them,' said Lindon. Next week, Lindon and Leah plan to hand-deliver the proceeds to the Humane Society. After squeezing out strong results in their first attempt, the siblings are planning to continue their efforts next summer with another stand.
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Apartment building fire leaves residents displaced in Goderich
Damage seen from an apartment fire in Goderich, Ont. on Aug. 1, 2025. (Source: Phil Main) Damage from an apartment building fire in Goderich Friday night has left residents displaced. Emergency responders said around 11:20 p.m., they responded to the incident on Nelson Street. As of 2 a.m. Saturday, firefighters were still on scene. Residents and the public are asked to stay away from the area. Residents were evacuated on Brock Street and Nelson Street East because of the blaze. A warming centre was opened at the Knights of Columbus building. Goderich apartment fire Damage seen from an apartment fire in Goderich, Ont. on Aug. 1, 2025. (Source: Phil Main) No injuries have been reported. Nelson Street is closed between Cambria Road North and Albert Street. In a news release, Goderich Mayor Trevor Bazinet said: 'We are relieved to report that no injuries have been sustained from this incident. The well-being of our community members remains our top priority, and we are thankful for the quick response of our emergency services that made this possible.' For those wanting to support affected residents, Bazinet said gift card donations can be made instead of food items. 'Gift cards for groceries and essentials can provide affected families the flexibility to meet their specific needs during this difficult time,' he said. 'Gift cards may be dropped off to Town Hall, 57 West Street, this Tuesday (Aug. 5) to Friday (Aug. 8), 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.'
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Clean up discarded fishing line, conservation group says, after 3 cygnets died after becoming tangled
Watching a trumpeter swan cygnet die was not on Louisa Lamberink-van Wijk's list of things to see during her birthday this year. Lamberink-van Wijk, who is the vice president of the Halton Hills Turtle Guardians, was having her birthday dinner around 8 p.m. on Tuesday when she saw a post in a local Facebook group about trumpeter swan cygnets all tangled up in a fishing line. She then received a call from Peter Duncanson, the president of the same organization, about the cygnets. She rushed over to help, but it was already too late. "Two were obviously dead," she said. "The one that was alive was swimming around, dragging the other two along with him as [best] as he could because… that's heavy for a young swan to do that." With some help from Duncanson and other volunteers, Lamberink-van Wijk was able to gently untangle the third cygnet. She took it home hoping to save its life and get it to a rehabilitation facility, but the young swan also died a few hours later. Discarded fishing line, lead sinkers an issue Trumpeter swans seemingly vanished from the Ontario landscape in the 1800s, until dedicated efforts were made to bring them back and monitor their numbers in the 1990s and early 2000s. Today, trumpeter swans are listed as "not at risk" in the Species at Risk Act's animal registry, thanks to the efforts of groups like the Trumpeter Swan Conservation of Ontario. Nevertheless, Laurel Ironside, a licensed bird bander at the Trumpeter Swan Conservation Ontario, expressed concern about the fact that they see trumpeter swans getting caught on discarded fishing lines on a weekly basis. "We don't want to lay blame [on anyone]," she said. "There's good anglers and there's bad anglers." Ironside said most of their swan rescues are caused by discarded fishing lines and lead sinkers. Ironside said lead sinkers affect not just many of the trumpeter swans that they rescue, but also other waterfowls. On Prince Edward Island, a study from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown found that lead sinkers and ammunition caused nine per cent of deaths among Maritime bald eagles. "It's a frustrating thing because we've educated the public for years already," Lamberink-van Wijk said. "It's not something, 'Oh, that will never happen to me.' It definitely does happen." 'I'm very disappointed' While the cygnets were found in Halton region, Lamberink-van Wijk's frustration is something shared by Paul Kroisenbrunner, the current treasurer and former president of Kitchener Waterloo Cambridge Bassmasters. "I'm very disappointed that some anglers would not be responsible enough to take their waste and dispose of it properly," he said. "We pride ourselves within Ontario and our overall parent organization [in the U.S.] as being conservation-minded." Kroisenbrunner said it's not often that he hears about swans and other animals being tangled up in fishing lines within their community. "Wildlife in general, all species of animals have a right to a clean and healthy environment," he said. "That's why we promote conservation, cleaning up after yourself, taking all your garbage with you and not leaving it on riverbanks or in parks or anywhere else where anglers are doing something that we love to do." But there are things a responsible angler can do, says Lamberink-van Wijk — the easiest one is to ask for help. She says people may feel embarrassed when they hook or get an animal tangled with their fishing line and they may just "cut the line and get out of there because you may not want people to know that this happened." "If you hook an animal, call the wildlife centre, call somebody that can help, set aside the fact that you're embarrassed, and just fess up," she said. "Help the situation because in the end, you're going to help an animal." To prevent similar situations from happening in the future, Lamberink-van Wijk says education is the number one tool. The most obvious lesson from this unfortunate event, she says, is for anglers to make sure that they collect all their fishing gear before leaving. "After weekends, we pick up handfuls of [fishing line] along the shoreline, and animals do get tangled up," she said. "Don't leave it behind because animals get stuck and killed." To report trumpeter swans in distress or that need rescuing, send the Trumpeter Swan Conservation of Ontario a message on their Facebook group
