After Heron Road Community Centre’s third consecutive winter serving as an emergency shelter, a city representative and the community are hopeful for new solutions.
Heron Road is one of three centres in Ottawa currently being used as makeshift shelters, alongside the Dempsey Community Centre and Bernard Grandmaître Arena.
While the community centre has been integral for housing newcomers to Canada, Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr expressed the need to have “better, longer term solutions” for shelters.
“Community centres, as in the case of Heron Road, provide a place in the community for people to connect and participate, and break up social isolation,” Carr said.
Heron Road is based in the Heatherington and Heron Gate neighbourhood. It’s a community requiring and relying on facilities such as Heron Road Community Centre, as Heron Gate ranks among the lowest in Ottawa’s neighbourhood equity index.
“The community at large, they understand the gravity of the situation,” Carr said, while acknowledging some people’s frustrations. “But at least we don’t have people sleeping out on the street.”
This year, for the first time, Heron was open exclusively for single newcomers to Canada. Carr, who represents the area where the community centre is located, said those staying at this location are coming from countries within Africa, primarily Uganda and Kenya.
“New arrivals to Canada [make up] a huge percentage of […] families without housing,” Carr said, adding the percentage for singles is also high.
Roughly 40 per cent of recent immigrants did not have access to affordable housing, according to a 2019 City of Ottawa review.
The community centre’s regular facilities, including a gym and seniors’ centre, have been closed to the public since Nov. 13. Food bank services remain open.
The centre originally housed 202 beds, but has since added 20 more due to overflow. Beds are divided by gender with 144 for males and 78 for females.
On March 6, the City of Ottawa announced a 10-year lease agreement on an empty office space at 230 Queen St. The space will be used as transitional housing, mainly for asylum seekers.
The location could be open by November and will have 130 beds.
While this will reduce the demand at some community centres acting as emergency shelters, Carr said the new location won’t benefit Heron Road due to the number of people the community centre currently houses.
“The community is frustrated, particularly the people from Heron Road seniors’ centre,” Carr said about the continuous closures.
Phil Logan, a long-time member of the seniors’ centre, has been vocal about the city’s decisions to suspend operations at the community centre.
The seniors’ centre used to offer many programs and activities, including movie afternoons with pizza, card-playing groups and art classes.
“A seniors’ centre is incredibly important for building that social support network,” Logan said.
“There are people who have moved into the Heron Gate community because that seniors’ centre is there.”
Carr said seniors in the community have since relocated to the Carleton Heights and Greenboro community centres to participate in programs.
Logan expressed that these replacements are not enough, as some members are unable or not willing to make the commute.
“It’s not about what you do, so much as who you do it with,” he said, expressing the importance of the seniors’ centre’s community.
Other community members affected include youth.
With the Heron Road Community Centre closed, many kids looking for recreational programs now go to the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) located in Heatherington, which offers art, education, skill development and physical activity programs for youth.
“Young people need safe and supportive spaces that allow them to flourish,” Medin Admasu, BGC Ottawa’s Chief Programs Officer, wrote in an email.
He said the BGC’s programs offer youth “an opportunity to develop confidence and life skills.”
Badal Diriye, 15, often attends the BGC after school and is grateful to have its programs available.
“I love [its] activities because I don’t like being bored at home,” he said.
The Heron Road Community Centre was set to re-open this spring, but has since been delayed until further notice.
Logan said he does not expect the centre’s facilities to re-open anytime soon.
“I just can’t see the logistics. How do you move [222] people, and where are you going to put them?”
Carr said the city will be making additional announcements in the coming weeks on transitioning out of using community centres for emergency housing.
Featured image by Grace Martin
