York Region is getting more than $16 million in funding from other levels of government to address both encampments and help with affordable housing spaces in the municipality.
The region has secured more than $10.8 million in federal funding under the Unsheltered Homelessness Encampment Initiative to assist with creating new emergency and transitional housing spaces and boost programming to aid encampment response.
The region will also receive $1.4 million from the provincial government for encampment response and $3.98 million from the province to help develop new emergency housing facilities, including two upcoming Newmarket facilities.
The regional commissioner of community and health services, Lisa Gonsalves, said that the funding secured in the past couple of months will aid regional efforts to address homelessness.
“This federal funding will create new emergency and transitional housing spaces, renovate existing spaces, increase drop-in programs, boost homelessness prevention funds, and enhance program support for the region’s encampment response,” Gonsalves wrote in a memo presented to council Jan. 30.
The federal funding of $10.8 million will be split over two years. The region plans to use those dollars to add 61 emergency and transitional housing beds to its capacity through a variety of measures, along with boosts to programming.
The provincial $3.98 million in last-mile funding is meant to help municipalities in advanced stages of construction to expedite completion. To that end, $2.3 million will go to help the redevelopment of the new Kevin’s Place shelter at 835 Gorham St. in Newmarket, while $630,000 will go to the new Inn From the Cold facility coming to Newmarket in Yonge Street. Another $1 million of the dollars will go to the affordable housing project Richmond Hill Ecumenical Homes.
As for the province’s $1.4 million for encampment response, the region plans to support operating costs for additional beds and establish additional seasonal shelter sites that could add up to 75 seasonal shelter beds.
Gonsalves wrote that the new funding should help the region offset some of its own investment.
“The region will examine options to use new funding to offset regional funding sources and re-purpose tax levy funding for other program needs,” she said. “Regional staff will continue to advocate for additional investment from all levels of government to continue supporting the response to homelessness in York Region.”