Councillors on the finance and corporate services committee voted Tuesday afternoon on a staff recommendation to purchase the Diocesan Centre at 1245 Kilborn Place, an 8.7-acre parcel of land with a three-storey building.
The Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall owns the property, and the existing buildings have been vacant since December 2020. Staff say the purchase is a result of "a sustained and increasing need for supportive housing," with 369 people on the waitlist for supportive housing as of June 1. "People need a home, and that's what this comes down to—an opportunity for people without housing to be able to have a place to have stability and to thrive," says Katie Berkholder Harris, Executive Director of Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa."I wanted to ask on behalf of the community, and everybody is of the same consensus, to delay this decision. That's all; delay the decision and give people time to digest the information," says area resident Angelo Scaffidi.