Guelph project providing residents with a 'whole new start'

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It’s hoped the 10 Shelldale Crescent project can serve as an example for other communities to emulate

For 32 Guelph residents life is now much brighter and all due to a permanent-supportive housing initiative called 10 Shelldale Crescent located in the city’s Onward Willow neighbourhood.

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One of three projects that are part of the Home for Good campaign launched in 2022 by the Guelph-Wellington Poverty Elimination Task Force, Guelph Community Foundation and United Way Guelph-Wellington-Dufferin, the ribbon was cut in June and the doors opened to the first set of tenants who prior to moving in, were living on the streets.

The building, which according to a release provides each of them with an independent living unit, common spaces and 24/7 access to staff member support as well as other services, is being managed by Kindle Communities, a non-profit organization which owns the structure and maintains it, with support from the Guelph Community Health Centre and Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, an addiction treatment centre.

The initial plan of the campaign was capital investment to build 72 supportive housing units in Guelph, a number that now has been reached. The other 40 residents are housed at Grace Gardens on Woolwich St. and Bellevue, which provides supportive housing for eight youths.

As for the Shelldale initiative, Skyline Group of Companies, an investment management firm that acquires, develops and manages real estate properties, donated the land and provided resources during the construction period.

R. Jason Ashdown, company co-founder and its chief sustainability officer, said “Skyline has been in the rental housing business for 25 years, and we have seen first-hand just how fundamental safe, secure, long-term housing can be to an individual’s well-being.

“It is our hope that the 10 Shelldale Crescent project can serve as an example for other communities to emulate, showing that effective collaboration among government, business, and community organizations can play a key role in solving housing insecurity not just in Ontario, but across Canada.”

Daria Allan-Ebron, the CEO of Kindle, said the organization is “committed to ending homelessness. With unwavering support from the private sector, all levels of government, and our community, we are more than just hopeful – we are determined.”

Describing it as a “testament to our collective effort,” she added that the facility “is built, it is up, and it is functioning. And over the summertime, we have welcomed residents to the building.”

As for how each of the residents were selected, Kristin Kerr, CEO of Stonehenge, said the Guelph-Wellington region has what she described as a “By Name List, which is a list of known individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, and so we work through a coordinated access committee with other partners in the community to identify individuals on that list who would experience who are experiencing need, and would be a good fit for the program.

“We’re creating a community for these individuals and giving them a place to call home. There are 24/7 wrap around support in this building. That includes addiction and mental health services, nursing and other primary health care services and specialty health care services. Really, we are looking to meet the health care needs of individuals in the place that they call home, and to build a sense of community with the other individuals living there.”

In terms of how it has been accepted by local residents in the area, Leisha Burley, project manager at Kindle,  said “overall, it has been really well accepted. Kindle also owns the neighboring community center, so we really see a lot of opportunity for the new tenants to get involved in the community, to have access to supports and services. So, yes, it has been good.”

The Guelph Wellington region, she said, is “absolutely committed to ending homelessness locally and we work really well in partnership and collaboration.

And 10 Shelldale is really an example of that with the private sector involvement, with investments from all levels of government, with our social service sector coming together for support.”

Meanwhile, Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie described the facility as a “big step forward in addressing homelessness in our community: “(It) shows that when we work together – private businesses, all levels of government, the non-profit sector, and the public – we can collaborate to create a home with wrap-around support for people experiencing housing insecurity.”