GUELPH – Thirteen new housing units for youth experiencing homelessness are coming to Guelph thanks to provincial funding for which the county almost didn’t apply.
“Our staff had a very short window to put these applications in,” county councillor David Anderson, vice chair of the joint social services and land ambulance committee, told council on Jan. 30.
He was commending staff for their efforts after announcing the county was successful in receiving funding via two separate streams, available through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, tied to clearing out encampments.
Through the first stream, the Encampment Response Initiative, the county received $703,295, which will support the operation of 25 units until March 31 at the 128 Norfolk St. temporary accommodation site in Guelph, Anderson said.
Under the “Last Mile” stream, the county received $620,714, which will go to Wyndham House for its Welcome 2 Waterloo project.
“The project will provide 13 new units for youth experiencing homelessness and will prioritize youth that are parenting and/or survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking,” Anderson said.
But it seems the county came close to missing the opportunity to apply for the money.
When the joint social services committee met on Jan. 8, members reviewed a report stating the county had applied for Encampment Response Initiative funding, but they were told no suitable projects had been identified for the Last Mile funding opportunity.
With an application deadline of Jan. 10, committee members sought to quickly identify a project that might qualify.
“I really don’t want to leave any stone unturned here,” said Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie.
Housing services director Dave Purdy told the committee the greatest challenge in applying for the funding was “trying to identify projects that are near completion,” which was the focus on the funding stream.
Before adjourning the meeting, the committee went into a closed session to discuss possible projects, and two days later, the county had submitted its application.
“We are very excited about the Welcome 2 Waterloo project and thrilled to receive the financial support needed to bring it from vision to reality in such a rapid time frame,” Wyndham House executive director Kristen Cairney stated in an email to the Advertiser.
According to a letter from the housing ministry, to be eligible, projects needed to be “shovel-ready, with construction activities able to commence within 120 days of signing the contribution agreement.”
The Welcome 2 Waterloo project will be located at 107 and 109 Waterloo Ave. in Guelph.
“The property was purchased in December 2024 and pre-development work is well underway,” Cairney said.
“The construction will commence in the spring with hopes of completion by the end of this year.”
She said the property will be renovated to create 10 supportive housing beds for youth who require wrap-around supports, and three transitional market-rent units – two with two bedrooms, and one single-bedroom unit – for youth with “unique circumstances,” such as those with children or fleeing domestic violence.
“At any given time, I would say we are working with an average of four to six youth that are at our shelter or staying in our long-term housing programs that have these types of experiences,” Cairney said.
“We feel in many cases that our shelter or congregate-style housing programs are not appropriate settings for young women and gender diverse youth in these situations.”
The market-rent units will be in a part of the building that will not be renovated.
The 10 congregate beds will be spread out over three floors of the other half of the building, with each floor self-contained with its own kitchen, bathrooms and laundry, Cairney said.
This is where the renovations will take place.
When the project opens, service will include 24-hour staffing to support life skills development, case management, and clinical supports and intervention, said Cairney.
“We appreciate the leadership from the County of Wellington that makes these projects possible,” she stated.
County social services administrator Luisa Artuso attributed the success in obtaining funding to dedicated staff and the community’s collaborative efforts.
“Wyndham House is our community’s leader in supporting youth that are experiencing [homelessness] in both the city and the county,” Artuso stated in an email.
She also provided additional details about the encampment funding, saying $353,695 of it would go to operating costs for the 25 units at 128 Norfolk St.
Another $147,059 goes to capital costs for the building, and $202,541 goes to the City of Guelph for “costs they incurred to address encampments,” she said.
Overall, the one-time encampment funding primarily supports the city, and will help decrease its contributions toward a 2024/25 winter response plan for homelessness, she said.
