Community News

BUSBY MOTEL VOUCHER PROGRAM TO END JUNE 30

PROGRAM PUT INTO PLACE EARLIER IN PANDEMIC HELPS 200 PEOPLE PER NIGHT

CHRIS SIMON chris.simon@simcoe.com

The latest casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic? An emergency shelter program for about 200 people that's currently being run through a Barrie motel.

Representatives from the David Busby Centre and Elizabeth Fry Society Simcoe Muskoka say they've received notice that federal and provincial funding for a motel voucher program they've been running out of the Travelodge for most of the pandemic will end June 30.

The groups, along with Simcoe County, City of Barrie, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and other community-service organizations will meet in the coming weeks to plan their next steps.

Busby And Elizabeth Fry currently assist 200 people per night through the program, and served a combined 1,100 individuals in 2021, more than double pre-pandemic demand.

Shelters are now expected to go back to full capacity. However, Busby and Elizabeth Fry only have the space to help 42 people per night, combined.

They'll attempt to look for other sites to accommodate overflow emergency shelter beds, Busby executive director Sara Peddle said.

"The funding is coming to an end and we're still in a housing crisis," she said. "There's no transition period. As the province continues to lift pandemic restrictions, COVID funding allocations specific to sustaining the hotel shelter model have been decreased and directives from public health, as it relates to operations in congregate settings, are being revised."

Peddle and several local advocates were at Centennial Park before

sunrise May 11, erecting about 150 tents — to represent the approximate number of people who will be left without shelter by this decision — in demonstration along Lakeshore Drive. They wore shirts with the '#roofsnottentsBarrie' hashtag and asked drivers to honk their horns in support of housing initiatives.

The issue, says Peddle, has shifted from the virus to affordability and "unattainable" rental rates, Peddle said.

"Without immediate available housing or enough alternate emergency shelter options, people experiencing homelessness will be forced to live in unsheltered locations forgoing safety, food security and regular basic needs," she said. "It's why we wanted to show a visual, because some people need that impact."

Acting Mayor Barry Ward called the situation a "crisis."

"We have an affordable housing crisis and a supportive housing crisis," he said. "And closing one of the few facilities we have for emergency housing is not the answer. The situation is not getting better. I hope a solution can be found."

The county is responsible for administering social service programs locally, including within the city. However, the provincial and federal cash was a direct response to the pandemic and aimed to help organizations safely meet the needs of the region's unhoused population, Greg Bishop, county social and community services general manager, said.

"Planning includes winding down the ongoing temporary emergency motel shelter model," he said, noting three of the region's six shelters have already transitioned back to their regular facilities. "We understand the need is great. In combination with a return to full capacity in regular homeless shelter locations, federal and provincial pandemic-specific funding envelopes will assist transitional plans to address needs for shelter beds that may be required beyond current capacity.

"Homelessness is a complex issue that has become more visible and prevalent with growing numbers of individuals requiring shelter services throughout the course of the global COVID-19 pandemic locally, provincially and nationally."

NEWS

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

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