Brick by brick London’s newest affordable housing project on Huron Street moves one step closer to opening its doors. “There’s a lot of people that are on the brink of homelessness and this addresses that to try to prevent people from being homeless,” said Mary Michniewicz, co-chair of the Buy a Brick Campaign. Organizers say the goal of the St. Vincent de Paul Project is to provide safe, stable housing for individuals and families in need. “Thats how this project came about, filling that need,” said Michniewicz. In order to reach their goal of $1.7 million raised towards the project, volunteers created the ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign. “Even $25 will buy a brick but you can also buy a wall for $1,000,” explained volunteer Sara Steers. “You have to come up with 1.7 million [dollars] to get the project rolling in order to qualify for government grants and CMHC [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation],” added Michniewicz. Once that goal is reached, organizers say the hard work doesn’t stop there. “Once you build a building that’s accommodation, but we are going for a place people can call home,” explained Steers. They say while this project is a step in the right direction, more needs to be done to address the housing crisis. “We ourselves have had over 200 names of people that have said, ‘We’ve heard you’re doing this, can you put me on your list?’” said Steers. The project is expected to be complete and ready for residents to move in by early 2027.
