In response to the work of #TheForgotten519, the City has extended an invitation for representatives of this group to join an immediate gathering with representatives from the agencies who have echoed and supported their concerns, as well as other agencies and their frontline workers who play an important role in the system, with the goal of identifying specific and actionable steps that can be taken, together and immediately, to address the shared concerns and calls for action to better serve London’s most vulnerable people.
“We have great respect for the attention they have brought to the desperate need to better support people living in our community who are experiencing homelessness, addictions, and living with episodic mental health challenges. One preventable death is one too many,” said Kevin Dickins, Deputy City Manager, Social and Health Development. “It’s clear the community is unified in their support for a better system. Changes made and actions taken with system-wide support and participation are our best chance to make a difference, today and in the long-term.”
The City is calling for agencies to come together to participate in two working sessions that will be facilitated by a third party, beginning this week. The focus for the first session will be on creating space to broadly share and listen to the experiences of those providing service in the community that has been gathered by #TheForgotten519 and discuss the ideas for immediate action.
“The actions of this coalition have shone the spotlight on systemic problems. We are not working against agencies who are responding to and supporting vulnerable people. We work with them,” Dickins said. “Our hope is that gathering with our community agencies and frontline workers will allow us to agree on what we can do right now to move to better health, social and housing outcomes – as a municipality, as a system and as a community.”
Early last week, the coalition representing frontline workers brought forward demands to the City that included allowing any and all encampments on public and private property to exist throughout London and changing the model for the Coordinated Informed Response (CIR) team to an outreach and support model, not displacement.
The City’s current approach to encampments is to allow them to exist on public property. Only when there are imminent risks to health and safety – for the individuals or to the surrounding areas – has there been action taken. Reasons that encampments have been displaced have included being located on a flood plain and on a sidewalk, multiple fires, violence, criminality, or a direct and acute interference with community activities. For the most part, encampments have been allowed to exist on public property throughout London, noting the City has no ability to direct what happens regarding encampments on private property.
“We approach each encampment on a case-by-case basis, and we lead with compassion and care for the people we meet,” said Dickins. “We are not perfect, though. We are committed to doing better to provide support and resources to the people who are living in encampments. That includes hearing from the whole of the system about what more needs to happen, and what a different approach would include.
“We can talk about encampments and displacements and the number of encampments, but the real problem is that we have encampments at all,” Dickins said. “A growing number of Londoners have no other option than to establish their homes under tarps and cardboard boxes in hidden corners throughout our community. There are just not enough places with supports for people to go and that should concern all of us.”
In addition to calling for the immediate gathering, Dickins said that City staff will be looking internally to identify additional ways to support the system, including access to funding, and focused and targeted advocacy with other levels of government. London, like many communities across Canada, is facing a crisis because of complex health, social, and economic issues; solutions require responses and actions from across multiple disciplines, including at the Provincial and Federal government levels.
“The actions of #TheForgotten519 have given voice to the concerns of frontline workers and raised awareness about the critical need to do more for vulnerable people in our community. They have also underlined the urgency,” Dickins said. “Responding to these issues requires commitment to action from across the system and we look forward to working with the whole of the system, together, through this week.”