Arun introduced our guest speaker Kim Shippey from the Homes for Heroes Foundation. Kim brings two decades of experience spanning 14 years with non-profits and five years as a consultant. She has a passion for creating positive change from arts and culture to Indigenous projects to post-secondary institutions.

The goal of the foundation is to end veteran’s homelessness. There are approximately 10,000 veterans across Canada and over 1600 homeless veterans in London with the average age of vets in Kingston Village being 31. The foundation is planning to build a Veterans’ Village in London on the site of Parkwood near St. Joseph’s Hospital. There are 3 key programs offered:

- a Wellness program to treat PTSD, an Employment Program to help find jobs, and a Life Skills Program. There is also a Mental Health program.

The Veteran’s Village is not a permanent home for vets. They stay for 12 to 18 months in supportive housing until they are set up with a permanent place to live and community support services. The village is supported by all three levels of government and costs about $10 million. The units are single dwellings

and not intended for families. There are already villages in Calgary, Edmonton and Kingston. The London village will have 20 homes and vets can come back for services once they have graduated from the program.

The timeline for London is breaking ground in July, building during the fall and moving veterans in by early 2026. Staffing includes a manager, 2 case workers and lots of volunteers. Each village has operating costs of $400,000.

Colin Steele thanked our speaker and announced that a donation will be made to Polio Plus as thanks for an informative presentation.