The County of Wellington has reached an agreement to lease Norfolk Manor as a temporary accommodation site for residents of the former Holiday Day Inn Express.
Officially announced during a county council meeting Thursday morning, several residents who live near Norfolk Manor reached out to GuelphToday Wednesday to share a memo with basic details of the plan which includes moving shelter residents living at the former Holiday Inn Express to the new temporary accommodation site at Norfolk on July 2.
In the memo, staff said there was a plan to phase out temporary accommodation at the former Holiday Inn Express but "based on an increased system level capacity from new supportive housing projects" and an increase in the number of residents experiencing homelessness in late 2023 and into 2024 means the county "must maintain" the 65 spaces following the end of the lease agreement.
According to the memo, the 18-month lease agreement will run through December 31, 2025 and the staffing model contract with Stepping Stone will be transferred to the Norfolk site. This means the current support staff will be onsite 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The property can accommodate up to 68 individuals, has common and office spaces, and a commercial kitchen, is close to the downtown core and is within a short walking distance to a variety of social and support services.
The county's social services administrator, Luisa Artuso, said 40 people will move into the space on July 2.
Alex Smith, who lives two doors down from Norfolk Manor said he didn't receive the notice and questioned how the county can justify their decision without consulting neighbours.
"I am appalled be the lack of transparency with respect to the decision to turn Norfolk Manor into a homeless shelter," said Smith in an emailed statement to GuelphToday. "This decision is being made by county council with no notice to the neighbours and no notice of the closed door discussion by county council. This is not my idea of open democracy and arguably does not comply with the Municipal Act provision in that regard."
The County of Wellington first entered into a lease agreement with Woodlawn Hotels Group to temporarily accommodate shelter individuals at the former Holiday Inn Express during the pandemic.
Norfolk Manor's website now says it no longer operates as an assisted living retirement home and doesn't provide care services anymore.
Formerly a private retirement home in Guelph for over 40 years, Norfolk Manor owner, David Ing announced in January that the home will transition into "a care home" by mid-May due to operational and staffing challenges, rising costs and "the evolving industry."
Asked about the loss of senior housing at Norfolk Manor earlier in the year, county CAO Scott Wilson said that since the county wasn't responsible for that housing becoming unavailable for seniors, it doesn't have a response plan to bring more senior housing online at this time.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
