Construction has started on the $30-million Joan’s Place project, an affordable housing and wellness hub that will be operated by Youth Opportunities Unlimited. The City of London also recently announced that it was chipping in $4 million into the project, which is expected to be complete by 2024. “They were the first significant funder to the table,” said YOU’s CEO Steve Cordes, of the city. Incoming mayor Josh Morgan added, “at a time when our community is experiencing a homelessness crisis, projects like this go a long way to ensuring more safe spaces for local youth, and access to the supports young families need to thrive.”
The upshot: YOU have become an innovative fixture in the local social services scene in recent years, and this investment pretty much guarantees that role for many years to come. The Joan’s Place facility at Richmond and York streets will include 39 affordable housing units reserved for youth and young mothers with children, Cordes said, and will bring service organizations like CMHA, Fanshawe and YOU all under one roof. “The City of London is proud to invest in this critical project for London’s most vulnerable young people,” Morgan added.
Read more: Global News
