As the new Lighthouse gets closer to opening its doors, those who have made the project possible gathered Wednesday to reflect on the journey.
The ribbon was cut at the entrance to the main shelter building at 75 Queen St.
“The significance of this day is not lost on our team,” said Lynn Thomas, campaign manager for Building Hope and development and communications manager for the Lighthouse. “From the very beginning stages of vision to the reality of gathering today to cut the ribbon on the Building Hope project has been a long, arduous journey — a journey to open the doors to the future, for thousands of people to find true hope and independence and security.”
The new Lighthouse will have shelter beds in one building and supportive housing units in another. It’s a far cry from the cramped quarters at 48 Peter St. S.
That space came about almost 30 years ago, when local churches came together to create a sort of youth centre at the site.
In 1998, the Orillia Christian Centre was incorporated and turned it into a shelter and soup kitchen, since there were no shelters in town at that time, explained Lighthouse executive director Linda Goodall.
The name has changed over the years, becoming Lighthouse Christian Ministries, followed by the Lighthouse Soup Kitchen and Shelter. Now it is simply the Lighthouse.
The main shelter building will include 28 beds for men, 18 beds for women, an emergency response room and nine beds for youth.
The supportive housing building will have 20 units, each equipped with a kitchen.
Participants can stay there for up to four years and, during that time, take part in life skills development and access the supports they need to live independently.
“Some people may not have been housed for years and, literally, this would be the first time they’ve been in housing,” Goodall said.
She expects occupancy at the shelter to begin in mid-August, once “the last kinks of construction” have been worked out.
At first, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 23 beds will be available in the shelter, as well as five youth beds. For that reason, the Lighthouse’s hotel shelter program will remain in place.
On hand for Wednesday’s gathering was Adam Vaughan, MP for Spadina-Fort York and parliamentary secretary to the minister of families, children and social development (housing). He gave a land acknowledgement before drawing comparisons between the Lighthouse model and the traditional Indigenous longhouse structure.
“It’s a form of architecture that constantly grows and wraps around the people it needs to house, and it evolves as demographics change, as needs change,” he said.
A longhouse is not a home, he added, but “a place of ceremony and healing and caring.”
“In many ways, the growth of the Lighthouse and the growth of this program in Orillia is true to that Indigenous heritage,” he said.
Ted Williams, chief of Chippewas of Rama First Nation, also addressed the crowd and recalled having a breakfast meeting with Building Hope co-chair Glenn Wagner.
“When you have a dream and you have a vision, you’ve got to have a sales pitch, and he had a really good sales pitch. It was from the heart,” Williams said.
Indigenous people are among those who benefit from the Lighthouse, he said — they make up 29 per cent of shelter participants in Simcoe County, Goodall pointed out — and he said he was thankful that support is there for them.
He spoke of the positive relationship between Rama and Orillia.
“The Chippewas of Rama, we’re very, very proud to be major contributors to the fabric of Orillia and area. We will continue to be in all areas, whether its economic development, whether it’s social, whether it’s housing. We’re there,” he said.
Wagner was the last to speak before guests were taken on tours of the buildings.
He recalled reading a book, the first line of which was, “It’s not about you.”
“Standing here,” Wagner said, “it’s not really about any of us. It’s great that we came together as a team to do this … but it’s really about others, and that’s what we’re here for. So, let’s carry on and help others. I think it’s a calling that we all have.”
