Toronto homeless organization faces uncertain future
Advocates await federal response on funding
AMANDA TAYLOR THE UNDERGROUND (UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, SCARBOROUGH)
TORONTO (CUP) — Toronto’s homeless may lose many valuable services if Ottawa fails to renew a funding program before it expires, advocates say.
The Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI) has been in operation since 1999. The federal program is slated to expire in March 2007.
City councillor Joe Mihevc said there were doubts in late August about whether the government was going to see the program through to 2007. Now those doubts remain unaddressed and anxiety is beginning to surface.
“We don’t know what [the government] is going to do,” he said. “The community needs to speak out and say to its federal members of Parliament that we want this program.”
“On average we’re spending about $18 million a year of the SCPI funding,” said Trish Keachie of Toronto’s support and housing administration division.
An official with the federal Department of Finance said the government has proposed giving $1.4 billion to help with affordable housing pressures across the country, provided that the 2005-06 surplus exceeds $2 billion.
But supporters said affordable housing alone is not the solution. “One of the key losses for the city will be our ability to develop supportive and transitional housing,” Keachie said.
Supportive and transitional housing differs from affordable housing because, on top of low rent rates, it offers counselling services for those with mental health issues, as well as help getting residents back into mainstream society.
Keachie said many homeless people don’t have the money to pay for ID, or face language barriers. SCPI also funds a large-scale program that helps people acquire valid identification by waiving fees and providing guarantors.
“I think the numbers speak for themselves,” Keachie said. “People really need this service.”
She said 14,000 people a year are making use of the ID service.
Toronto’s St. John Bakery was able to get off the ground with the help of $115,000 in funding from SCPI. The bakery employs people who are on welfare and need the extra income.
“We’re trying to give people an opportunity to learn a trade that will allow them to come back into the workforce,” said Marc van Beusekom, business manager at the bakery.
The Streets to Homes program, also funded by SCPI, has housed around 800 people over the last 17 months. It takes people from the street and gets them directly into permanent housing, “which was always thought to be not possible,” Keachie said.
Sandy Birnie, executive director with Youth Link, a program to help Toronto’s young homeless population, outlines the importance of the Streets to Homes program.
“It’s everything from finding the landlord, convincing the landlord to take the young person in, and then supporting them once they’re there,” Birnie said. “I think people look at kids who are on the street and think, ‘What on earth are they doing there?’ and often it’s a safer place for them than home.”
Youth Link’s Youth Skills Zone program gets $500,000 a year to help get young people off the streets by teaching them a trade. The program deals with about 100 kids a year.
“We have no idea what the future looks like and [the government] is not saying yet,” Birnie said.
She said time is running out and they need to know as soon as possible if the government is going to make a commitment to renewing the initiative. Otherwise, they will have to start shutting down programs.
