The 40-unit transitional housing complex on Lorraine Street has opened, with its first 10 residents moving in on July 21 and another four entering the program since that time.
Originally anticipated to open by the end of 2023, city Housing Stability and Homelessness manager Gail Spencer said that although “construction delays” postponed its opening, residents have been happy to finally move into the new, “bright, clean” building with backyard space.
Spencer anticipates that all 40 units will be filled by mid-October, with the city joining Health Sciences North staff in slowly ramping up operations.
“We wanted to make sure this was successful and that the neighbours would not have any concerns about it,” Spencer said, adding that the goal is for it to be a safe place for both participants and the neighbourhood as a whole.
Thanks to a provincial funding boost announced earlier this year, the centre, which provides transitional housing services for the city’s chronically homeless, will be staffed by health-care professionals from Health Sciences North and have programming available 24/7.
There are no outpatient services operating out of the space, Spencer said, with all available programming targeting the building’s residents, including such things as life skills, counselling, psychiatric assistance and other medical support to ensure residents are able to transition to permanent community housing.
“The program participants inside are learning to be good neighbours, as well,” she said.
Sudbury.com was alerted to the transitional housing complex’s opening through a couple who live in the neighbourhood and expressed various concerns since the housing complex opened, including witnessing open drug use, items reportedly stolen from a neighbour’s vehicle and people seen looking into backyards.
A Greater Sudbury Police Service spokesperson said that their research and data analyst reports no recent calls for service to Lorraine Street.
The local couple, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, said that they phoned police to complain about a group of people on Lorraine Street, some of whom were swaying and appeared to be on drugs. The people suspected to be intoxicated were called into the housing complex before police arrived.
“We’ve had very few concerns brought forward, and certainly nothing that we’re aware of that required police intervention or bylaw intervention,” Spencer said.
“It’s important to the city that this program is accepted within the community and is a safe place for the community and participants to be living in.”
Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent echoed this sentiment, noting, “this has to be successful,” given the fact that at least two more facilities of a similar scope are estimated to be currently needed in Greater Sudbury to help bring a functional end to homelessness.
“This facility will operate for the next three years, at a minimum, so the city is going to work in partnership with HSN to make sure it’s successful,” he said. “There is no other option.”
Parent said that he has received some calls of concern from area residents since the facility opened and that the city has been in regular contact with HSN to mitigate concerns. On this front, he said it’s important for people to report concerns to 311, or 911 if there appears to be criminal activity, so the city and HSN are abreast of what’s going on so they can take action.
Transitional housing complex residents are drawn from the city’s by-name list, which tracks the local homeless population and currently includes 290 names, though Spencer said that not all of them would require the level of service offered at the Lorraine Street building.
Further, she said, all residents join the program voluntarily and must be active participants.
“They are working on their own goal, whether it’s physical health, mental health, substance use, life skills, those types of things,” she said. “For some people, it’s just about addressing their addiction and working on stabilizing their health.”
With some residents in active addictions, she said it is possible for there to be drug use on site, but that there’s fenced-off space on the property to help make sure anti-social behaviours aren’t taking place in public spaces.
“They are also participants in the community and they’re often taking the bus or might meet up with friends or sit at the park and enjoy the sunshine,” Spencer said.
“If people were to see things that require police involvement, they should call the police, and that is their avenue if they feel that a crime is being committed.”
The transitional housing complex is “a really important part of the puzzle” in the city’s goal to bring a functional end to homelessness by 2030, she said, and the hope is that the Lorraine Street complex will serve as a model that can be replicated elsewhere in the community.
The Lorraine Street transitional housing project has taken quite the winding path to reach the gradual opening taking place between July 21 and mid-October.
The Lorraine Street project began in early 2021, when city council members approved a business case for city staff to look at a transitional housing project to help tackle homelessness. The federal government followed with a $7.4-million pledge later that year, and a Lorraine Street location was selected by city council in August 2021.
Although area residents opposed the location, a decisive vote of 9-2 saw city council approve the $14.4-million project in August 2022.
A ceremonial groundbreaking took place in June 2023, at which time it was anticipated that the building would open to residents by the end of the year.
In October 2023, the lead contractor went bankrupt, which put a pause on construction. A couple months later, Flex Modular was installed as the new general contractor and its new grand opening was anticipated by mid-2024.
In December 2023, the City of Greater Sudbury was defrauded of approximately $1.5 million when a fraudster posed as a project contractor. Through the court system, the city would later recuperate much of these funds.
In January of this year, the province announced $6.3 million annually toward HART Hub funding for homelessness and addictions efforts, which boosted facility programming to 24/7.
The HART Hub funding will also go toward a program in Sudbury’s downtown area, for which Spencer said work is ongoing. She deferred comment to Health Sciences North, whose spokesperson deferred comment to the Ministry of Health, whose spokespeople did not immediately respond.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.