The county-wide hotels-for-the-homeless program is costing the County of Simcoe a pretty penny.
As of May 8, the county has shelled out nearly $500,000 to house the homeless in hotels and motels to alleviate concerns of COVID-19 infiltrating the local vulnerable population.
While the program has worked so far with no COVID-19 cases reported in the local shelter system, projections show the provincial and federal funding that pays for the program will only last until about November if spending continues at the same rate.
“Thanks to the staff and individuals who are working with these vulnerable populations, we’re very pleased that, to date, there has been no COVID-19 outbreak. We’re pleased with the way the response has gone,” said Greg Bishop, general manager of social and community services with the county.
Back in March, two major funding announcements were made to help local social services get through COVID-19 challenges.
The Social Services Relief Fund, provided by the province, brought in $2,440,500 to the County of Simcoe for 2020/21. This funding is being split between homelessness initiatives, food security, housing and related supports.
The Reaching Home COVID-19 allocation, provided by the federal government, provided $1,641,353 in funding for 2020/21.
This funding is going exclusively toward supporting homelessness programs county-wide, including motel and shelter costs for nine providers across the County of Simcoe.
“The (funding) is being used for the hotel/motel costs as well as additional staffing required, security, personal protective equipment (PPE), and in some cases, enhanced cleaning needs,” said Bishop.
The Orillia-area shelter being supported through this initiative is The Lighthouse. The Lighthouse has moved its men's shelter to a local hotel and also opened an emergency women's shelter in a separate hotel when the need arose.
As of May 8, $498,951 has been spent in the homelessness sheltering system with a forecast of $411,602 per month anticipated going forward for as long as the program continues.
“Between the two funding streams, we have probably until about November. That’s just an early forecast,” said Bishop.
Bishop estimates there are approximately 215 people currently in the homeless system county-wide as of this week, with about 170 of those being housed in hotels/motels.
Some local shelters, such as the Salvation Army in Barrie, are able to accommodate physical distancing within their existing facility which accounts for the difference in numbers.
In terms of trends, Bishop said the county has seen an influx of people accessing all shelter services due to a few different factors.
“We have seen numbers increasing in the homeless population since the pandemic (started). Some of that is attributable to release from incarceration for individuals pending bail or other (criminal) items,” he said.
“There’s also been an impact to the numbers due to individuals who may have been couch surfing, previously being supported by others in a temporary way, but with COVID-19... that’s maybe not an option anymore for some of those individuals.”
