Windsor council broadens search for homelessness hub, eyes city-wide options
Windsor City council is expanding the search for a site to locate a permanent homelessness and housing help hub.
During Monday's meeting, council voted to look beyond a two-kilometre radius of the downtown core and instead explore options right across the city.
The city's current Homelessness and Housing Help Hub, or H4, was opened in 2020 in the former Water World at Wyandotte Street East and Glengarry Avenue, but the city has been looking for a location to build a permanent expanded site that could house various wraparound support services.
In 2022, a feasibility study by Glos Arch + Eng proposed that any site for a permanent H4 be walkable to existing community and health services, with most already near downtown, which resulted in the two-kilometre radius being set.
The decision to expand the search comes after Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino expressed frustration during the May 12 meeting over the ongoing problems in the city core caused by people dealing with homelessness, mental health, and addiction issues and the proximity of services and homeless shelters in and around downtown.
Agostino says location is what matters.
'Not putting handcuffs on ourselves by saying it has to be within this or that,' he says. 'We need to have the best spot that is best for the residents that live in the area. Best for the businesses that operate in that area and best for the people that need the help. Right now all three of those get a failing grade.'
Ward 10 Coun. Jim Morrison says this has been three years, and it looks like to the people of Windsor we're doing nothing.
'I certainly fully support this. We need to move forward on this whole issue. I'm not going to sit here and do nothing for another three more years,' he says.
The initial search for a permanent site resulted in the city eyeing a property at 700 Wellington Ave., but that was pulled off the table in December 2024 due to the cost of land acquisition.
Ward 9 Coun. Kieran McKenzie says he reluctantly supports the expanded search but has some serious concerns.
'These are super complex issues. This opens the door to what I think is a significant departure from what we've already established about how we're going to address these issues. There's risk, and I'm taking that risk because I believe in all of us here,' he says.
Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis, who supported the motion, says he wants the search to be driven by professional best practice and data.
'It can't become a political decision. That's my main concern right now; it's moving into the realm of politics, and that's what I want to prevent as much as we can. We're never going to agree to this if it's on politics and politics alone,' he says.
Francis is also concerned about how moving further out in the city could impact the organizations they need to help from.
'The further we go out from where the social services are, there's going to be a ripple effect that not only affects the city but also these other organizations, agencies, and programming that currently exist,' he says.
Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac did not support the expanded search.
'Municipalities are never going to be able to afford to do it properly without assistance from the upper levels of government. Upper levels of government are not providing even a road map on how the problem would be solved. Period,' says Gignac.
City staff will now begin examining potential locations for a permanent H4 and then bring back a list for the council to consider.
Once the council has a location narrowed down, the city will seek funding from the provincial and federal governments to build the facility at the new location, which was previously estimated at over $50 million.
— Rusty Thomson/AM800 News
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