Ending homelessness: The greatest gift of all

What if homelessness was simply not an option? In 2023, every single one of us must be part of the solution

ON NOVEMBER 29, a 28-year-old mother of three died while living on London’s streets. She was the 61st person experiencing homelessness to die in London this year alone. An eight-year-old girl and two boys ― ages six and two ― now face a life without their mother. 

This keeps happening on our streets, and it will keep happening unless we do something different. Something big. Something transformative. Something that says to those three children, and so many more, that London is a place where we care about people — and that they matter enough in our city that we will do everything we possibly can to respond to and prevent the tragedy that took their mom away from them.

The most wonderful gift we can give ourselves, our city and our brothers and sisters suffering on the street is to end homelessness as we know it. In 2023, that is exactly what we’re going to do. Our entire community, every Londoner, every business, every institution, every agency and every charity will join together as one. 

When we count our blessings let us include our city manager, Lynne Livingstone, on that list. Lynne is leading a unique and monumental effort, known as the Health and Homelessness Summit. Through her efforts, some 200 civic leaders and experts with knowledge and experience in this field have come together with that simple, lofty and necessary goal. 

Parallel to the hard work in building the plan, we must come together, all of us, to raise the necessary funds to ensure the plan is successful. Every single one of us is part of the solution. You will be asked and you will give.

There is a war happening every day and every night on our streets. It is war against the cold, against disease, against addiction, against hunger. Our frontline workers battle with virtually no support, against all odds. They do this selfless, dangerous work on behalf of every one of us, on those streets we avoid travelling, rushing to those suffering friends and neighbours of ours from whom we avert our eyes.

In 2023, we must end this war. 

In the coming weeks, the Summit will produce a roadmap and we will come together to fund what’s necessary, to build what’s required, to staff the frontlines and to once for all end this pain and suffering. In the process we will save lives. We will transform our city and become a model for the rest of the country. We will reclaim the glory of our downtown and bring jobs and commerce back to our core. We will do this because it is right, it is necessary and because we can.

In this time of giving, faith and celebration, coming together as a community and solving this problem will be the greatest gift of all.

Market analysis provided by Marcus Plowright, Sales Representative, A Team London. Marcus can be reached at 519-872-8326 or marcus@ateamlondon.ca.

High- and low-priced real estate listings around town this week

London East

Low

Address: 411-583 Mornington Avenue
MLS number: 40356277
List price: $219,900
Days on market: 13
Size: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 683 square feet
Listing agent: Scott Vannoord, Sales Representative, Sutton Group – Select Realty Inc.

High

Address: 1745 Kilally Road
MLS number: 40327717
List price: $3,325,000
Days on market: 88
Size: 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4,700 square feet
Listing agent: James Hudson Smith, Sales Representative, Sutton Group-Select Realty Inc. Brokerage

London North

Low

Address: 207-5 Jacksway Crescent
MLS number: 40351138
List price: $389,900
Days on market: 27
Size: 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 858 square feet
Listing agent: Jeff Edward Placzek, Sales Representative, Re/Max Centre City Realty Inc.

High

Address: 565 Leyton Crescent
MLS number: 40328768
List price: $3,280,000
Days on market: 81
Size: 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 5,966 square feet
Listing agent: John H. Crosby, Sales Representative, Royal Lepage Triland Realty

London South & West

Low

Address: 32-198 Springbank Drive
MLS number: 40325975
List price: $135,900
Days on market: 89
Size: 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 640 square feet
Listing agent: Zahra Khawari, Sales Representative, PC275 Realty Inc.

High

Address: 3916 Southwinds Drive
MLS number: 40343075
List price: $2,865,000
Days on market: 49
Size: 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 3,503 square feet
Listing agent: Sarah J Oliver, Broker of Record, Oliver & Associates Sarah Oliver Real Estate Brokerage

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Disclaimer: London Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy of the statistical data on this page. The data does not represent the listings of any one agent or agency but represents the activity of the real estate community in the area. Any real estate agent’s ad appearing is separate from the statistical data provided, which is in no way a part of their advertisement.