FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE– The County of Wellington will be relocating individuals currently living in temporary supportive housing at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre’s Loyola House, to the Holiday Inn Express in Guelph (540 Silvercreek Parkway North). The move will happen by November 30, when the County’s current lease with Loyola House is set to expire to allow the building to complete scheduled renovation work.
The County of Wellington opened the Loyola House Supportive Temporary Accommodation Pilot (LHSTAP) in October 2020 to provide temporary housing and on-site supports to 45 adults in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are very thankful for the partnership we’ve been able to cultivate with the Ignatius Jesuit Centre,” said Warden Kelly Linton. “Finding innovative solutions to help adults and youth with the appropriate supports and housing placements is key to ending chronic homelessness in our communities, and we hope to partner with Loyola House again in the future.” The move of these services to the Holiday Inn Express location will ensure that the County of Wellington can continue to serve individuals experiencing homelessness safely.
The agreement with the Holiday Inn Express will extend until the end of June 2022. The County intends to work with community partners to house as many individuals as possible into permanent housing solutions, and will continue to work towards developing housing solutions to support the long term needs of the County’s most vulnerable.
“Over the past two years, the County and partners have made great strides toward our community goal of ending chronic homelessness” said Social Services Committee Chair, David Anderson. “Our community partners are doing great work to prevent and end homelessness, and we’ve already seen a 41% reduction in chronic homelessness on our By-Name Lists, and a 78% reduction in youth homelessness.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity to evaluate our existing programmes and explore new approaches to shelter services,” commented Social Services Administrator Eddie Alton. “The new agreement with the Holiday Inn Express will give us the opportunity to
work closely with our community partners and determine what our shelter and homeless serving systems should look like going forward.”
For additional information on the County of Wellington’s Housing programmes and services, please visit www.wellington.ca/housing.
