'We may have to look at other sensible locations': Where will Windsor’s new H4 be located?

The search for a site to house Windsor’s new Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (H4) is back underway after the city scrapped plans at 700 Wellington Avenue on Monday.

Costs associated with land acquisition caused the city to halt plans for a new H4 and re-initiate the search process.

The news was ‘exciting’ for Christine Wilson-Furlonger, an administrator for Street Help, a drop-in centre for those experiencing homelessness.

“Where the homeless hub is right now is actually the perfect location,” Wilson-Furlonger said in an interview on Tuesday morning.

The H4 has operated out of the former Windsor Water World building since 2020.

Wilson-Furlonger said that unlike the Wellington Avenue property, the current building remains close to other vital services.

“That's where all of the programs are. That's where we have our shelters. We have our other programs, our mental health services. Everything is within the core of the downtown, so let's accommodate it,” she said.

The administrator believes the existing housing infrastructure in the Glengarry Avenue area makes it a sensible location for expansion.

“I don't say that we should build communities of homeless, but we already have housing that we could enhance, and then we can still look at looking at housing all across the city,” Wilson-Furlonger said.

The City of Windsor originally picked the seven-acre Wellington site in part due to space, but the need for expropriation received scrutiny.

Windsor city council has selected 700 Wellington Ave., seen on April 30, 2024, as the future home of Windsor's Homelessness and Housing Help Hub on a permanent basis. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

Ward 2 Coun. Fabio Costante was against the initial plans on Wellington due to reasons, including the need for expropriation.

“In order to acquire this land, we had to expropriate it and expropriation could be very time-consuming, could be very costly and very risky,” Costante told CTV News on Tuesday.

A strong location must be close to existing services, not require expropriation and avoid co-locating with an existing shelter, he said.

“I firmly believe that co-locating shelters could create many more problems than you're trying to solve.”

The Downtown Mission has said it will await the announcement of a permanent H4 location before it finds a new home in an effort to have the two resources close.

Costante would not comment on his preferred location for the H4 but said he would not support anything outside the downtown core.

“If it's done right and if the supports and services are provided on-site, I think the impact to the neighborhood is greatly mitigated.”

In an interview with CTV News, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said an imminent 2025 federal election coupled with the potential for a provincial election could slow the process of securing funding.

Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens in Windsor, Ont., on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Rich Garton/CTV News Windsor)

“So it's not likely we were going to see any traction, any way to move forward in 2025 without that funding in place,” Dilkens said.

A previous report conducted on behalf of the city identified potential properties within a two-kilometre radius of the downtown. Dilkens did not commit to the new H4 site remaining in the same boundary.

“There are really limited options, so we may have to expand that boundary,” Dilkens said.

“We may have to look at other sensible locations that put us in the same position to provide the wraparound services, and the transitional housing that we all identify, as a city council, are needed in our community.”

In the best-case scenario, Dilkens said a new H4 location could be built in three years.