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Federal funds to help with homelessness |
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Written by SCOTT STANFIELD
Citizen staff
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
The federal government made a $742,000 contribution this week to organizations dealing with the growing problem of homelessness in Prince George. Beneficiaries include Active Support Against Poverty and the Central Interior Native Health Society.
Funds will go towards programs, emergency shelters, assisted housing, employment assistance and front-line workers.
"There was a lot of due diligence done on the applications, and we're very assured the funds will be well used," said Cariboo-Prince George MP Dick Harris, who paid a visit Wednesday to the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, which received $93,015.
The federal Conservatives have awarded upwards of $1.2 million this year to homelessness initiatives in Prince George. Funds are part of the Homeless Partnering Strategy that is providing nearly $270 million over two years to help Canadian communities effectively combat the complex issue of homelessness, focusing on a "housing first approach."
Harris notes mental health issues often compound the issue.
"There's funding for a caseworker or counsellor that will be able to deal with some of those issues," he said. "It's a collaborative thing. The long-term goal is a solution to it, try to get behind it as much as we can, but there will be some steps we have to take. We have good partners we're working with. They've certainly been there in the trenches working on this problem already, and we want to make sure the funding is stable and sustained."
Prince George-Omineca Liberal MLA John Rustad, mindful of the federal contributions, said homelessness is predominantly a nighttime problem, which he feels is being addressed by a provincial outreach initiative.
"That outreach program has been hugely successful in taking thousands of people off the streets, and getting them into shelters, and then getting from the shelters into more appropriate accommodation for a longer term," Rustad said. "We just extended that this year as a province and expanded that service. The help that has come with the feds, all of that is great, but we need to take that initial step to be in touch with those people."
David Chudnovsky, provincial NDP critic for homelessness and mental health, feels any resources to combat the "homelessness crisis" in B.C. are useful, but says the biggest problem is housing.
"We have somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 homeless people in B.C.," Chudnovsky said. "That's a crisis like none we've seen since the Great Depression. What we need is the federal and provincial government to step up to the plate and start building the affordable housing and social housing and co-op housing to get people permanent places to live.
"We certainly need emergency shelters, but emergency shelters aren't home, those are temporary places for people who don't have anywhere else to go. We need them, but anyone who suggests that's a solution to homelessness doesn't understand the problem."
According to Chudnovsky, homeless individuals pose a greater drain on the system - in terms of shelters, hospitals, jails, and mental health and addictions workers - than costs associated with building homes.
"Those are the people who are using those other facilities, and it's way cheaper to build homes," said Chudnovsky, who will speak with homeless people and front-line workers next week in Prince George and other northern communities during a province-wide consultation on homelessness.
This week's recipients of federal funds:
n Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment and Training Association, $360,996
n Kerry Pateman Planning Services, $80,000
n Central Interior Native Health Society, $88,145
n Association Advocating for Woman and Children (AWAC), $60,000
n Prince George Native Friendship Centre, $93,015
n Active Support Against Poverty (ASAP), $59,900
Total: $742,056
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 March 2008 )
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Like that one where the BC govt got fed funding then up and bought an old condemned motel onQueensway for a fortune (lucky ducky that flipped 'er), then turned it into a vacant lot for the homeless.