Some local projects that work to address homelessness will be getting funding to move forward due to a windfall of cash from the province, Simcoe County councillors heard this week.
And one major project in Barrie could see more people experiencing homelessness getting the skills they need to get out of the shelter system.
In October, the province announced the county would receive an additional $3.4 million in Phase 2 of the Social Services Relief funding to support homelessness services across the county. On Tuesday morning, county councillors received a report outlining exactly how that money would be spent.
The Georgian Green Transitional Housing Project will see the multi-unit student residence on Bell Farm Road in Barrie modified to be used as transitional housing for up to 80 people.
Eligible individuals within the local shelter system will be moved into the residence for up to 10 months, where Empower Simcoe will provide administrative and housing assistance to tenants while also being provided with social service supports, such as addictions treatment, mental health counselling and life skills programs.
Approximately $450,000 of the new funding is planned to be allotted to the project.
“The Georgian Green building, I think, can be an important addition in the fight against homelessness. The units are self-contained, which is important during COVID,” Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman told BarrieToday. “With the wraparound services being proposed, I believe this can assist in helping people transition from the shelter system to more permanent housing, and I particularly like the on-site supports. These are critical to helping homeless individuals with the root causes of their homelessness.”
According to the staff report, county staff are currently in discussion with a community agency/partner to co-ordinate the on-site services and provide on-site, 24/7 staffing.
Georgian Green management did not return a request for comment for this story by publication time.
Home Horizon’s Barbara Weider House in Collingwood will also be receiving $334,800 in capital funding through the announcement that will see the youth transitional house expanding from six units to 10, and expand the communal space in the home.
“This has been a goal of the organization for quite some time. I’m happy for Home Horizon that the board of directors has reached one of their goals,” said Steven Pelletier, executive director of Home Horizon.
“I’m really excited about this. This enables our organization as a whole to increase our capacity and work for more young people,” he added.
According to the funding application, conceptual drawings are complete and a builder has been retained. Youth living in the house were consulted on the new design.
“A lot of the input from youth was related to the layout and ‘flow’ of the house. We also learned that recreation was important to them and we strived to accommodate space to fulfill that need,” said Pelletier.
There are no anticipated zoning issues as the property is zoned for 10 bedrooms. A construction timeline has not yet been established, and will rely on when the funding is delivered.
Typically, the Barbara Weider House has a wait list of about 20 youth. The average length of stay for a youth is 18 months.
“Our expansion will increase our residential service provision by 30 per cent. Additionally, it will provide space to facilitate other programs such as our outreach program that has positive benefits for youth and the community,” said Pelletier. “Certainly, adding bedrooms will help deplete our waiting list.”
The remaining Phase 2 funding will be used for other programs that help people experiencing homelessness county-wide. Around $1.2 million will be used to continue the motel/hotel model shelter program. About $500,000 of the funding will be used for a rent assistance program to keep people from becoming homeless.
About $465,000 will be spent on minor retrofits, alterations and repairs at existing shelters across Simcoe County, while another $300,000 will be spent on major retrofits, alterations and repairs.
There will be $200,000 set aside to support current and future COVID-related needs.
As part of their application for funding to the province, county staff were asked what projects they had in mind should future funding allotments be approved, and the county provided some ideas.
A transitional micro-housing project in Midland, overseen by community organization Shelter Now, is one of the projects being considered.
The project intent is to develop micro-housing units on adjacent land already owned by the organization. Micro-housing has been described by Shelter Now as single-storey, ultra-high-density units which would be part of a 20-unit project. The capital funding estimate for the project would be $800,000 to support 10 of the units.
Units would be approximately 700 to 800 square feet with a mix of both one- and two-bedroom units.
After the success of Lucy’s Place in Barrie – a motel conversion to transitional housing on Essa Road – county officials said they would also be interested in pursuing other motel conversion projects either in Barrie or elsewhere in Simcoe County.
