Exclusive: Mayor Morgan commits to re-housing residents before House of Hope closes

House of Hope on Dundas Street. (File)

Mayor Josh Morgan will soon unveil a plan that ensures the formerly homeless Londoners living at House of Hope will not have to return to the streets when the 48 units of supportive housing operated by London Cares is forced to close because of a funding shortfall.

CTV News has confirmed that details of the plan will be announced later this week.

“The mayor, he has assured me that everyone will have a roof over their head,” MPP Rob Flack, minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing told CTV News following an unrelated news conference on Monday. “I think if you stay tuned later this week, he’s going to have an announcement in terms of what the long-term plan is.”

Morgan offered few details, but said the plan is the result of collaboration between several partners.

“We’re not going to let anybody go out on the streets,” Morgan promised. “We’re going to find a space for everybody. There’s going to be a more detailed plan that comes out later this week in partnership with a number of others.”

In May, London Cares announced that House of Hope (362 Dundas St.) would close in November, eliminating supportive housing spaces for people who had previously been experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

The decision to end the program was made after $1.37 million of provincial funding from the Ministry of Health expired.

CTV News later learned the supportive housing program was caught in the middle of a disagreement between city hall and the provincial government over who should fund its continuation.

House of Hope is funded by deeply affordable rent paid by its tenants, along with $1.37 million from the city and what had been the $1.37 million provided by the Ministry of Health through London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

LHSC stopped its funding last year, but the facility stayed open with one-year bridge funding from an anonymous donor.