Sourced: london.ca
Homeless shelter leaders met in front of the Community and Protective Services Committee on Feb. 1 to seek recommended approval for more funding. More specifically, they are looking for $1.1 million for homeless prevention programs.
Peter Rozeluk, head of the Men’s Mission, spoke first, highlighting some issues he has noticed.
“My first observation is that when I first started my current role 12 years ago, the city had what I believe was a foundation for 24/7 resting space system,” says Rozeluk. “One by one, these spaces closed until none were left in part because of insufficient staffing and funding. There is today a more broadly based community response, but with what are now annual winter response concerns, surely exacerbated by COVID-19, it certainly does not feel like progress has been made.”
He followed by saying emergency shelters have never been funded.
“The same could be said of all emergency shelters in the province. It is made obviously clear that the fact that every emergency shelter that I know of does its own fundraising to make up for gaps in government funding.”
After Rozeluk, Jon DeActis from the Salvation Army Center of Hope spoke about the increases in costs.
“Over the past five years at the Center of Hope, there has been a 29.33 per cent increase in personnel expenses, a 55 per cent increase in food costs, a 61 per cent increase in maintenance costs, 166 per cent increase in waste removal costs, and an 8.1 increase in utilities and costs,” said DeActis. “At the same time, a 47 per cent increase in admin costs.”
It was a long conversation that the committee had, but in the end, the final vote was 6-0 in favour of recommending approval. It will go to full court on Feb. 15.
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