City of London makes important progress toward ending veteran homelessness in London

The City of London has made important progress in the effort to end veteran homelessness in London and is now on track to become the first community in Canada to achieve functional zero veteran homelessness as part of the Built for Zero Canada campaign.

In July, Built for Zero Canada recognized London as the first community in Canada to achieve a Veteran Quality By-Name List, a real-time list of all veterans experiencing homelessness in the community. Since then, the City of London Homeless Prevention and Housing team has continued to respond to the specific housing needs of veterans on the By-Name list and between August and September has reduced the number of veterans experiencing homelessness by over 75%.

“Safe and affordable housing is a right for everyone, including the brave women and men who served our country,” says Mayor Ed Holder. “I’m incredibly proud of the efforts to reduce the number of veterans experiencing homelessness and look forward to the day in the near future when we can share that we have achieved our goal of zero.”

The reduction in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness by over 75% brings London closer to ensuring no veteran continues to experience homelessness. To accomplish this goal quickly, the Homeless Prevention and Housing team is looking to hear from landlords or property owners able to offer affordable, transitional or permanent housing to veterans in our community. Landlords and property owners can connect with the housing team to learn how they can help and learn about programs and services available for housing providers.

“Our goal is to ensure no veteran experiences homelessness in our community,” says Kevin Dickins, Acting Managing Director, Housing, Social Services, and Dearness Home. “We continue to work with community partners and veteran-serving organizations in providing housing supports to veterans on the By-Name List. While we are close to achieving this important goal we know this work must continue as we make effort to eliminate all chronic homelessness in our community.”

The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness’s Built for Zero Canada campaign is a national effort focused on helping communities end chronic homelessness and veteran homelessness, using data to measure progress. The Built for Zero campaign has identified set milestones that mark progress towards ending chronic homelessness. As cities reach each milestone, they move on to the next phase of the campaign. The City of London Homeless Prevention and Housing team continues use data to strategically target resources, build strong partnerships with local veteran-serving organizations and is looking to connect with additional property owners and landlords to provide housing supports to veterans on the By-Name List in aim of being the first community in Canada to achieve functional zero veteran homelessness.

For more information on the Built for Zero Canada campaign, visit https://bfzcanada.ca/.

Last modified:Thursday, November 12, 2020