The Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board RRDSSAB) now has over a million dollars to use on homelessness prevention programs.
The province is boasting its current allocation within the Homelessness Prevention Program and Indigenous Supportive Housing Program by$592 thousand.
Chief Administrative Officer Dan McCormick says the increase will be instrumental in their ability to deliver existing programs and enhance new strategies to end homelessness.
“We’ve lobbied for this, and so have many other DSSABs and CMSMs (Consolidated Municipal Service Managers) for several years. We’re very happy that the ministry and our minister have heard us and have come up with some more funding. So for us, when you’re looking at over a 50% increase, it’s substantial,” says McCormick.
McCormick says the money will be earmarked for two specific projects.
“One is for some capital for future development of the eightplexes at St.Michael’s School. The other thing we’re looking at (is) bringing our transition beds online with it at the 324 Victoria,” says McCormick.
The funding announcement is the latest in a series made across northwestern Ontario.
Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford says it is a targeted effort to address homelessness.
“We’re making good community-level decisions with targeted funding that’s actually going to intervene for people through programming, through housing. We know that there’s more work to be done, but there isn’t a community in Kenora-Rainy River as a riding that isn’t getting the support from the provincial government to address this,” says Rickford.
