The County of Simcoe has started allocating more than $11 million in multi-government funding to help people who are experiencing homelessness in the region.
During Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting, county council received a breakdown of how the County of Simcoe intends to distribute $11,130,115 in combined federal, provincial and municipal funding for 2022/23 to address the issue of homelessness in the 18 communities it serves.
The discussion veered into the nature and root causes of homelessness.
Oro-Medonte Deputy Mayor Ralph Hough asked about all people suffering through the pandemic, and those who may be losing their homes as a result.
“There are lots of people suffering, through no fault of their own,” said Hough. “I’m sympathetic to the homeless, but some of them are homeless by choice. A lot of the people affected through the pandemic, are not by choice.”
“Do we have any program to support these people?” asked Hough.
General Manager of Social and Community Services Greg Bishop said Ontario Works caseloads are spiking, noting that since Christmas, the service had seen an increase of 600 new cases in Simcoe County. He said county staff are being redeployed internally to meet those needs. He also pointed to a spike in applications to the county's housing retention fund.
“I’m pleased to see we are helping the real needy ones,” said Hough.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman spoke up on Hough’s comments.
“Nobody is homeless by choice,” said Lehman. “Find me a homeless person who says, ‘I want to be homeless.’”
“With respect, we live in a society that attempts to help the least fortunate, and I think this report is an incredible example of how our system can work. In my own city, rents have doubled, housing prices have tripled in 10 years, and that’s why we’re seeing more people at-risk of becoming homeless,” he said.
“This is a symptom of a broken land-use planning and housing market,” said Lehman.
The funding envelopes that came through to the County of Simcoe from different levels of government for 2022/23 are:
- Federal Reaching Home Program (RH) - $601,782
- Provincial Community Homelessness Initiative Prevention (CHPI) - $8,097,053
- Provincial Home For Good - $1,684,208
- Provincial Seniors at Home (SAH) - $141,060
- Municipal (CHPI Municipal) - $1,000,531
Bishop noted there has been a large increase in homeless individuals across Simcoe County throughout the pandemic. According to the last homelessness enumeration undertaken by the county in 2020, on Nov. 17 of that year, 563 people were counted as being homeless.
The situation has been ever-evolving, which led to the provincial government to ask municipalities to complete another enumeration in 2021, which took place the week of Nov. 17, 2021 in Simcoe County.
The results of that enumeration have not yet been released, but will be compared to the 2020 iteration to determine trends.
While the provincial and federal governments provided additional Social Services and Relief Funding to the county throughout the pandemic to support the COVID-19 Emergency Motel model, that funding is expected to run out by March 31, 2022, and there have been no further announcements yet from the province regarding whether more funding will be coming under that program.
Key agencies that will be receiving funding through various sources include:
- Home Horizon in Collingwood - $160,779
- The Busby Centre in Collingwood - $11,470
- The Busby Centre in Barrie (various initiatives) - $805,249
- Elizabeth Fry Society women’s shelter in Barrie - $226,403
- Redwood Park in Barrie – $224,571
- Salvation Army in Barrie - $681,430
- Youth Haven in Barrie - $780,404
- The Lighthouse in Orillia (various initiatives) - $962,974
- Salvation Army in Orillia (street outreach) - $13,005
- Huronia Transition/Rosewood Shelter in Midland - $55,528
- Salvation Army in Midland (street outreach) - $40,000
- Shelter Now in Midland - $150,450
- The Guesthouse Shelter in Midland - $315,430
- South Simcoe Community Information Centre (CONTACT) in South Simcoe - $347,300
- Support & Hope for Individuals & Families (SHIFT) street outreach in South Simcoe - $99,000
During Tuesday’s meeting, Ramara Township Mayor Basil Clarke said he gets concerned when he sees the sheer number of organizations receiving funding, and asked about one-on-one treatment.
“I think we can assume that homeless folks don’t have internet. How do they find out about these programs?” asked Clarke. “Is there somebody that actually takes responsibility to seek out these folks, take them by the hand, gets them in a shelter and supports them while they’re in shelter? That’s what’s needed.”
Bishop pointed to many services receiving funding for street outreach teams, and the advent of the Coordinated Care Access program – which received $187,025 in this round of funding – that compiles information on each person who accesses local programming and makes it available to multiple service providers.
The program was created to make sure service providers in Simcoe County can keep track of individuals, even if they move from area to area based on life circumstance.
“It’s really important there’s collaboration and coordination in the existing system,” said Bishop.
County council voted in favour of recommending the allocations during their committee of the whole meeting. The decision will need to be ratified during the next county council meeting on Feb. 22.
