Joan's Place residents to move in next month, Youth Opportunities Unlimited says
Social Sharing
A supportive housing project in downtown London targeting young and expectant mothers at risk of homelessness is nearing completion with move-ins set to begin next month.
The long-awaited opening of Joan's Place will see 39 affordable housing units at the northwest corner of Richmond and York streets, with resources and supports aimed at helping residents transition to stable and permanent housing. Thirty-five of the units are newly built.
Named after Ontario's first female solicitor general, Joan Smith, whose family has supported the effort from the start, the opening will cap off a project nearly a decade in the making.
"Jones Place is going to have a significant impact in this community," said Steve Cordes, executive director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU), whose headquarters are across the street.
"I'm a marathon runner. I equate this to, we're at about mile 24 of the marathon, so we got a last little bit to go, but we're able to see the end in sight."
Construction began in September 2022, converting a former theatre-turned-sports bar into a multi-storey building with ground floor supports, including employment counselling, commercial space on the second floor, and a family room on the top floor. An adjoining building was refurbished and will house four units.
Members of YOU's youth wellness hub and housing team, located in the agency's headquarters, will also offer programs regularly, Cordes said.
Originally slated to open in the fall, the building is due to be turned over in the next four weeks, with the list of residents finalized by the end of January, and units ready for occupancy in mid-February, Cordes said.
"The goal of Joan's Place at the end of the day is creating stability for people. The sooner we have that information, we can tell someone their life's about to change," Jordan Boyd, YOU's housing services program manager, of the resident list.
The agency is working with the city to identify potential residents through the municipal housing wait list, with an eye for people aged 16 to 24 who are Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, a member of another marginalized group, or survivors of intimate partner violence.
"Overarching all of that is … a focus on individuals who are pregnant, who have had children, have children with them, or have had children but don't have custody currently," Boyd said. Local shelters have been told of the criteria so they can share the names of people who may be a good fit.
"We're exploring all those avenues before we look at anyone else."
Potential residents will be offered a one-year or three-year participation agreement, depending on their circumstances. Someone who is pregnant, for example, will likely need more than a year to get comfortable, learn skills to take care of an infant and move into the community, Boyd said.
Officials said, however, people won't simply be tossed out because their one year is up, and YOU will work with residents to determine the resources and supports they need to live independently.
Each resident will be assigned a caseworker to guide them through move in, and help if they need to buy furniture or other items. Beds will be provided, but it's unclear what other furnishings will be.
"Hopefully we'll have some things, but we haven't figured out exactly what that looks like. I know our goal is that no one will walk into a completely unfurnished apartment," Boyd said.
"Our goal is that move-ins are going to be very quick once that open date happens."
Nearly $20 million was raised for the project, including $8 million from the provincial and federal governments, and $1 million from the Smith family.
Cordes said the fact the building has been so close to completion was "almost overwhelming at times." During early focus groups of young Londoners, he recalled young mothers telling him they felt isolated and had no one they could trust for answers about parenthood.
"Those young people that I know are going to get amazing news," he said. "That when they have their baby they're not going to be separated, they're going to be in a supportive home that they can afford ... It's wonderful to see it all come into reality.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Honouring the land, healing together
Chantel St. Germaine and Dawn Isaac from Marymound preview their Indigenous community gathering, focused on connection and celebration.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Church's Rooster Town tour seeks to make amends
In 1930, when Harrow United Church was built at the corner of Mulvey Ave. and Harrow St., on what was then the southwest fringe of the city of Winnipeg, its neighbours included people who lived in Rooster Town. That community, made up of mostly Métis residents, was founded in 1901 and lasted until the late 1950s when residents were pressured to leave so the growing city could sell lots for new houses. Today, the church is honouring Rooster Town and recalling the injustice of the past through a self-guided walking tour of the former community. JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS Rooster Town tour committee members Susan Ketchen (from left), Virginia Platt, Rae Leaden, Teresa Moysey, Jacquie Corrigan and Marc Whitehead at Harrow United Church. The 5-km tour, which takes about 75 minutes, is happening from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the church at 955 Mulvey Ave. The event will also feature a celebration of Métis and Indigenous heritage in the neighbourhood. The church's interest in Rooster Town goes back to the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, said Harrow's former minister, Teresa Moysey. 'It became part of our fabric here,' she said of how the church sought to incorporate the findings of the commission into its congregational life. The discovery of potential unmarked graves of children at former residential schools in Canada prompted the congregation to want to do more, as did the publication of the book Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901–1961 by Evelyn Peters. Recognizing the church's historical connection, the congregation wanted to memorialize Rooster Town, known to its residents as Pakan, the Michif word for the hazelnut bushes in the area. They also wanted to counter the negative stereotypes about Rooster Town that might still linger from newspaper reports at that time that characterized residents as poor, filthy and disease-ridden people. 'It was a healthy community,' Virginia Platt said of Rooster Town, which once had about 250 residents in 59 residences. Men in Rooster Town mostly worked as labourers, and the women as domestics, she said, adding they paid taxes even though they didn't have access to services such as water, sewer and electricity. 'They were hardworking, doing the best they could to look out for their families,' Platt said. 'They were very resilient.' The tour is an effort to make amends, Platt said, adding she would like to see the City of Winnipeg formally apologize for how the residents of Rooster Town were maligned and mistreated. During the tour, participants can see some original Rooster Town houses that still exist, along with sites of historical significance to the community, such as Rockwood school and the locations of a former greenhouse, stable and dairy where Rooster Town residents worked. 'We hope it will increase interest among Winnipeggers about the Indigenous and Métis people who once lived in this area,' Moysey said. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. Jackie Corrigan, who wrote the script for the walking tour, said she hopes it will 'expose government ignorance and neglect and show the resilience of Rooster Town.' For Harrow church minister Marc Whitehead, the tour can be a 'reminder of what used to be here … we can be witnesses to an effort to remove that history.' In addition to the tour, visitors can learn about the medicinal plants in the church's healing garden, and view a reconciliation mural painted on the front of the church by Indigenous artist Jeannie White Bird and a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth. More information, and a tour map, click here. faith@ The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER John LonghurstFaith reporter John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
National Observer
2 days ago
- National Observer
'Super-cool' birds of prey make valuable contributions
These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity. Ginger Boehme-Vertefeuille invites us to get close to raptors. This 19-year-old from Cowichan Valley, British Columbia, spends her summers educating visitors at Vancouver Island's The Raptors. Tell us about your work. Birds of prey fascinate people — with their size, speed and deadly — intent but 30 per cent are threatened with extinction, so they are much more vulnerable than most of us realize. Vancouver Island's The Raptors facility offers people of all ages a chance to watch as eagles fly within a couple of feet of them or to carry a hawk or owl on their own wrists as they walk through a forest. Our goal is to use proximity to increase awareness about the critical role these super-cool animals play in their environments. For example, turkey vultures are not exactly beautiful at first glance. They scavenge and never hunt for themselves. But they help clean their surroundings. They eat rotting deer and other animal flesh and their digestive systems can cleanse it of anthrax, botulism and rabies. This service makes the environment safer for others, including humans. We bring hawks to places where gulls might be an expensive nuisance or even a danger, like airports, landfills and rooftop gardens. Once we fly the hawk, the gulls quickly decide to hang out elsewhere. This is a much more desirable way of managing human-nature interactions than some other alternatives! How did you get involved? Ginger Boehme-Vertefeuille invites us to get close to raptors. This 19-year-old from Cowichan Valley, British Columbia, spends her summers educating visitors at Vancouver Island's The Raptors. I grew up on Vancouver Island surrounded by forests, elk and other creatures, and the ocean. I was taught early to value Indigenous understandings that we are part of nature and intimately connected to it. Once you start seeing the world this way, protecting what we are raised to love becomes imperative. I would often go to the Raptors as a kid, and then began volunteering there as a young teen. That turned into a summer job. How do you think the way you were raised has affected you? I was taught to practice empathy and look for it in others. Celebrating the experiences of others and of the more-than-human world is a core value for me. What makes it hard? Climate change and the loss of nature that goes with it often feels overwhelming. We do protect a few birds, and we make a difference in the way our visitors relate to nature in general. But the need to see the big picture in all its political, scientific, personal and economic system complexities can feel impossible. What gives you hope? We each do our own part, and when we see each other, that is inspiring. I am a University of British Columbia student now and still finding my path, but spending time building community and connections with so many smart people, who are each doing cool things, leaves me hopeful more often than not. What possibilities do you see if we get this right? If we are able to protect our climate, we will have solved so many other problems, too. Wealth inequality, corporate power, colonialism — all these depend on treating our impact on the environment as irrelevant. If, instead, we centre it in our culture, we will make the world so much better, and our human species will still have a home. What would you like to say to other young people? Find something you love and do that. If you find an endeavour that reflects your values, you will meet others who also align. I love birds. You never know what you will fall in love with. But as I protect birds, you will protect what you love, and we will be working together even if we never meet. What about older readers?
