As the City of London is in talks to depopulate city shelters after COVID-19, directors such as DeActis are faced with the new challenge of figuring out how to deal with the demand of finding housing for an influx of clients. Home for All The Centre of Hope isn’t only a home for those struggling with drug addiction. While many do struggle with addiction, others have suffered misfortunes such as a job loss or mental-health challenges. “As the old saying goes, ‘You are just one paycheque away from being homeless,’ ” notes DeActis. Students who can’t afford a place to live while in school are also served at the shelter. Whether residents are employed or searching for a job, the goal is to encourage people to create a life of stability. The housing stability bank program helps residents with the first and last month of rent when they move out into a permanent home. Some of the funds are offered as grant money and some as loans that clients have three years to pay back. The amount they must pay back is minimal. “If they can’t pay it back, we just forgive it,” says DeActis. Staff at the Centre of Hope also help clients with the application process for government financial aid and get them to
a place of independence where they can search for housing on their own. Clients who need extra help are also referred to Housing First, an external program to assist them with permanent housing. The Centre of Hope has a variety of programs that extend beyond addiction and recovery. There is the community and
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At the beginning, I was absolutely hopeless. I didn’t know where I was going to go—but this place has brought life back to me. —Michelle Boissonneault
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family program that serves the London community with operations such as a food bank and a Christmas hamper program. Last Christmas, the centre served 4,500 food hampers, gave away 6,500 bags of toys for children and produced more than 700 meals a day for those experiencing food insecurity.
During COVID-19, the centre adapted by assembling a special team to operate an emergency vehicle in the parking lot. With the City of London helping fund meals five days a week during the pandemic, additional support was much needed. “We went to the Christian Church Network of London and put out a request for volunteers,” says DeActis. The response was overwhelming. “We needed 60 to make the program run and we ended up with 140 volunteers,” he says. A Place of Hope For Boissonneault, who was the second resident of one of the rooms at the Recovery Community Centre at the shelter, the sense of community and support is what makes the Centre of Hope more like a home than just a recovery program. “Having the support of the staff—some of whom have been through what I’ve been through—and being able to have a community meal with everyone is kind of like having a family,” she says. Since first arriving at the shelter, she has been able to have her teeth replaced with dentures and her flesh eating infection has healed. “I’m taking the direct steps to where I need to go in life and to feel OK with who I am as a person,” she says. While Boissonneault has plans to return to school to become a security guard, she is focusing on staying on track in the present. “Right now, I’m not looking too far ahead because I’ve spent so long in the epitome of hell. I’m just trying to take this one day at a time,” she says. For the time being, she’s thankful to have a place that she can call home. “Having my own space, my own bed and somewhere I can call my own is an incredible feeling,” she says. “At the beginning, I was absolutely hopeless. I didn’t know where I was going to go—but this place has brought life back to me.”
“London Centre of Hope is more than just a shelter,” says DeActis
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