$ 11 million to aid Metro’s homeless
Federal funds will go toward shelters, housing, mental health and addiction treatment
Metro Vancouver will dole out $ 11 million in federal funding to help provide the region’s homeless population with everything from shelter mats to daily nutrition, drop- in services and safe and secure housing.
Women, ex- convicts, single parents, teenage girls and aboriginals will be among the beneficiaries of the funding, to be spread out among 39 organizations as part of the federal government’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy.
This is the first year Metro has granted the funding, after striking a deal with the federal government last April to take administrative control of the money for two years ( until March 31, 2014).
“Our focus is on getting people off the streets and into the housing continuum,” said Wayne Wright, New Westminster mayor and Metro Vancouver housing committee chairman.
“That begins with shelters and transitional housing.”
About $ 2.3 million of the money will go toward emergency shelter services, with $ 1.4 million for traditional and supportive housing, $ 2.1 million for services for under- served populations and $ 1.5 million for prevention services.
Outreach, mental health and addiction treatment, and community and partnership development will also be offered.
Specific programs include intervention for at- risk francophones, a drop- in centre for homeless adults in Langley, overnight support to young women in the Downtown Eastside, daily nutrition to aboriginal youth, children and elders, and clearing the debt of single parents to help them find housing.
Ex- prisoners at risk of homelessness and children who are fleeing violence will also get more support.
National funding for the Homelessness Partnership Strategy is about $ 135 million per year, with Metro Vancouver receiving about $ 8.2 million — 80 per cent of all funds available to seven designated communities in B. C.
Aboriginal and rural or remote communities across the province receive another $ 3.1 million.