Transforming Emergency Shelter into Affordable Housing with Support

Abe Oudshoorn, in collaboration with Carrie Marshall and Deanna Befus, and through the Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion, are leading a 14-month demonstration project with the Salvation Army Centre of Hope in transforming emergency shelter space into affordable housing with supports. The project includes evaluation of an existing floor of rental units on site, as well as the addition of a new floor of units focused on substance use recovery and inclusive of a peer support model.

This demonstration project aims to showcase how emergency shelters can successfully transition to providing affordable housing with support functions.

Learn more about Nine Demonstration Projects Showcase Innovative Solutions for Affordable Housing in Canada.

Added: This story was also featured in Western News.

Video update on the project (November 21, 2019)


Colleen Parsons
Research Associate, Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University
Transforming Emergency Shelter into Affordable Housing with Support

Mapping the CRHESI Ecosystem — We need your help!

Meet Jefern, Adam, Sydney, Amn, Yashasavi, and Fan. Under the supervision of the Centre’s coordinators, this team of Community Engaged Learning medical sciences students will be mapping the CRHESI ecosystem over the course of the semester. The deliverable for this project is a dynamic, interactive map of the network, which will help us identify new collaborations, unrealized strengths, and gaps for strategic prioritization.

Please make sure the data points we have on file for you are up-to-date, especially prioritizing the ‘keywords’ to reflect your current areas of interest, expertise, and research.

Welcome to Our New Community Co-Director

The Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion is thrilled to announce the appointment of Heather Lokko as our new Community Co-Director.

Heather Lokko is the Chief Nursing Officer and the Director of Healthy Start at Middlesex-London Health Unit. Heather joins Helene Berman (Academic Co-Director) in providing vision, direction, and oversight to the operations of the Centre.

The CRHESI community once again wishes to acknowledge and thank Steve Goodine for his commitment and leadership in the role of Community Co-Director for the past three years. (And we congratulate him on his retirement!)

The first issue of LISTENERS is released

The Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion is happy to announce that LISTENERS Issue 1 is now released.

LISTENERS is an experimental publication that preserves, documents, and shares stories about living in London, Ontario, Canada. The series includes diverse forms of knowledge sharing, including storytelling, biography, literature reviews, issue-specific compendia, reflective commentary, case studies, environmental scans, and community-led inquiries.

This first issue includes…

  • Let’s Talk About It: Racism in London High Schools by Marie Fiedler
  • The Impact of Suicide: A Descriptive Analysis of the Principles and Practices of Media Outlets When Reporting on Suicide by Siena Maxwell
  • A Moment or a Movement? Local Community Responses and Perspectives on #MeToo by Sarah Cola, Shannen Iris Stroe, Sonia Thushiyandan
  • The Power of Inclusive Workplaces in London, Ontario by Leah C. Bleecker

Copies of LISTENERS Issue 1 are available for pickup at the CRHESI office at Innovation Works or at upcoming CRHESI events in 2019. Special thanks to Community Engaged Learning at Western University for helping us make a greater number of copies of this issue freely available to the community.

Study: Safety, Health and Hope for Women

Researchers from Western University are leading a national study aimed at improving the health and quality of life of women who have separated, or are in the process of separating, from an abusive partner.

This study involves testing a new community-based program, called iHEAL (Intervention for Health Enhancement and Living) with women who qualify.

In Ontario, women living in London-Middlesex or Sarnia-Lambton may be eligible to take part. Those who are interested in taking part are invited to visit ihealstudy.ca from a safe computer to learn more.

We appreciate the support of community partners in reaching women who may qualify. Information about how you can help is also posted on the website (www.ihealstudy.ca) under the ‘partners’ tab, along with downloadable flyer.