County Council Approves Funding For Homeless Prevention

Wednesday, 10 April 2024 at 14:55

$2.9 million has been approved to go towards homeless prevention in Oxford County.

OXFORD COUNTY - Things will get worse before they get better, and that's for all of Ontario.

Homelessness is a crisis in every community and it's here in Oxford County as well. The County Council approved the funding for the 2024-2025 Investment Plan of the Homelessness Prevention Program.

The Province of Ontario will fund $2.9 million in homeless prevention in Oxford County which will be used to support those who are experiencing homelessness and a housing crisis on a low income.

Warden Marcus Ryan explains where the money will be used.

"That funding comes with a certain amount of strings attached to it. So some of that goes to emergency shelters, and it can go to mental health associations and agencies that are engaging with people to try and prevent them from becoming homeless. This was the report that we get from staff that outlines this is the funding that we got and how we plan on spending that."

the Homeless Prevention Program service categories include supportive housing, community outreach and supportive services, housing assistance, emergency shelter solutions, and administration.

With homelessness being a crisis in every community there are different stages to fix it, and things are going to get worse before they get better.

Marcus Ryan also explains the different stages and his opinion of the short-term effect.

"There are multiple stages to this. Short, medium, and long term, and I think, unfortunately, the short term is going to be the worst. We need to deal with the people, who tonight will not have their bed to sleep in and we need to deal with that. If you don't help that person, then they're not there to help in the next stage. The reality is, even if everything the federal government, the province, and Oxford County does is right, it still takes time through the planning process, going through finances, and building things."

Marcus believes that everything they've done is making a difference. They have invested with Operation Sharing for The Inn and Out of the Cold with a 24-bed increase available to anyone in Oxford County.

This is not the end of the housing spectrum that the council wants to spend their money on, but they believe it is a very necessary place to do so. Moving on from emergency shelters is in their books, to traditional support spent to help residents move on.