The executive director of an Indigenous support agency says the fire at the River Road Golf Course clubhouse was "unlikely a coincidence," given that it happened so soon after the announcement that it would be used to offer services to the homeless.
Raymond Deleary, executive director of Atlohsa Family Healing Services, released a statement in the wake of Sunday's blaze at the east London facility. The agency was to operate a temporary winter shelter program at the golf course for Indigenous people who are without homes. But the future of the shelter is far from certain after the fire caused $1-million in damage to the clubhouse, where those using the shelters would be able to shower, dine, and access programs.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Deleary worries that this may have been a deliberately set fire with the intention of sending a message.
“It’s unlikely a coincidence that a piece of property that has been left untouched for at least the last year was burned down two days after Atlohsa publicly announced it as a resource to support Indigenous homelessness,” he said. “This is the second suspicious fire at an Indigenous space in the past year, and we can’t help but connect this to other experiences of anti-Indigenous discrimination in London."
Deleary added Atlohsa is working with the City of London to find a "secure a safe location for the program.”
According to Atlohsa, Indigenous people make up at least 29% of people experiencing homelessness in London. Now, the agency is faced with finding a location to provide them with services.
“This was a secured location for community members in need, and we are left with very few alternatives,” said Atlohsa Director of Community Planning Andrea Jibb. “We’d like to put a call out to the community for support in our efforts to find a suitable and safe location that meets our needs to support land-based healing for Indigenous people experiencing homelessness.”