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COUNCIL CITY PETITIONS PROVINCE FOR HELP WITH HOMELESSNESS MUNICIPALITIES NOT ADEQUATELY FUNDED TO ADDRESS CRISIS, SAYS MAYOR BILL JACKSON bjackson@torstar.ca Waterloo council reiter- ated its commitm help peo, with a request made by the Association of Municipali- ties of Ontario as the pro- vincial budget is being fi- nalized and will be tabled on March 23. "It's a last call to them to say, please look into the budget that you're about to fable ar and recognize the cri- in front of us,” MeCave said Monday. homelessness on Monday, ut wants the province to po! A motion introduced by hy McCabe Ly requests that the province commit to end homeless- ness and work with part- ners to come up with an ac- tion plan. The motion follows suit pubes services are ance with on a During recent 2023 bud- get deliberations, the city homelessness including supports, street outreach and security patrols. More permanent funding will be considered as part of the city's upcoming three-year budget cycle for what's been referred to as a "hu- man-centred approach" to on public daily basis. We're the front- line service providers, but our tax levy was never set up to deal with social issues like this." McCabe noted that the city has been contributing significant staff time and resources through various departments. property. "We do know that in Wa- terloo, in Waterloo Region, there are far too many peo- ple facing homelessness to- day,” said McCabe, that the region aa re- sponded beyond what the municipal tax levy typical- ly allows with millions of dollars in additional fund- ing. Part of the funding is go- ing toward the establish- ment of a new outdoor en- campment for about 50 peo- ple on Erbs Road. The sanctioned, super- vised site to be run by The Working Centre is current- ly being developed with wa- ter lines, a sewage system and land grading under- way. It's expected to open later this month and will consist of about 50 tiny home cabins and a commu- nity centre building that will include a sorvery, washrooms, laundry area and other spaces for health care and counselling ser- vices, according to The Working Centre's Joe Man- cini. In a recent interview, Mancini said both the re- gion and city have stepped up big time to address the rise in homelessness. The region serves as the designated service manag- er that receives federal and provincial funds to admin- 2 ister housing and hom¢ lessness services, includ. ing temporary shelters and pononal and affordable hou: in 0 October 2020, 80 peo- ple were moved into the r residence on Uni- versity / Avenue West where about 125 people have since found refuge, with many going find more steady, Orronaable housing arrangements. its ShelterCare operations to The Inn of Waterloo in 2020, the House of Friend- ship recently opened a new, permanent 100-bed shelter on Weber Street North. Jes- sica Bondy, housing servic- es director, confirmed it's now beginning to welcome new participants through ongoing intakes in co-ordi- ~ nation with the region. 3 House of Friendship's 100- 3 bed Shelter Care model in ® addition to previously an- 3 nounced operational fund- § ing, but said additional re- 5 sources are needed at the = municipal level. 8 Service providers con- = tinue to deal wit ge mental health an addic. = tion issues. "We're in the middle of a drug and a horrendous drug crisis," Mancini adding that alcohol sands mental trauma are now secondary to powerful street drugs that are cheap- ly avail ilable. Some individuals don't want to be in an encamp- ment with dozens of other people and some go to Wa- terloo because it's a little more hidden, he said. "That's nothing new, that's always been true. But in general across the city, there's more of that, and so you're seeing it a little more visibly.” We're reducing wait times for surgeries. See all the ways we're helping you connect to care at ontario.ca/YourHealth Paid for by the Government of Ontario Ontario 7] OO —CSCSCSSCCSCis eo 'e[2]UOIyDOOLaTEM