A new $100-million fund will provide grants to local governments and First Nations to tackle homelessness.
The grants will fund initiatives such as expanding shelter capacity, building temporary facilities and creating outreach teams to connect people to resources.
The announcement Thursday comes as communities around B.C. — including Victoria and Nanaimo — have been struggling with how to deal with growing populations of people without homes, many of whom have mental health and addiction problems.
Part of the Safe Restart Agreement, the fund will be cost-shared by the provincial and federal governments and administered by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities. Applications must be in by April 16.
Josie Osborne, minister of Municipal Affairs, praised communities for the lengths they’ve gone to to support people in need, adding the pandemic has made it more difficult to deliver services and made homelessness more visible with reduced shelter capacity. “That’s been hard on people experiencing homelessness and on communities,” she said in a statement.
Grants could be used to foster communication and co-operation through neighbourhood liaison programs, peer-based clean-up activities, to provide storage for belongings and to support community safety and bylaw services.
Applicants must show that their proposals would address clear community needs and are a temporary response to those needs.
Vanderhoof Coun. Brian Frenkel, president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, said during the pandemic, services for people who are unhoused have been “sorely challenged” by the need to comply with health and safety orders. Physical-distancing requirements have drastically reduced shelter capacity.
The new fund will supply needed money to deliver services, he said.
