Halton Region will once again provide much-needed funds to help prevent homelessness throughout the region.
Nearly $4.3 million is being included in this year’s budget, money that is given to the Region under the province’s Community Homeless Prevention Initiative (CHPI) program.
More than $800,000 of the funds are earmarked to provide financial support for at-risk individuals and families to retain their current housing by providing financial assistance for utility and rent arrears and first and last month deposits, as well as storage expenses.
Sheldon Wolfson, Halton’s commissioner of social and community services, told the Region’s Health and Social Services Committee last week that funds from this part of the program will be used to prevent people, who can’t afford first and last month’s rent, from being forced to live in motels.
“This is one of the pots of money that can help them,” Wolfson said. “I would encourage any of them to give 311 a call.”
However, Wolfson said, the overall objective of the programs is to keep people living in the homes and apartments they are already living in.
“Quite frequently people don’t know the assistance that is already available to them so they can avoid losing their homes and losing their apartments,” Wolfson said.
Halton’s Emergency Shelter programs for homeless single individuals and families will receive roughly $1.4 million of the $4,284,153 through a partnership with the Salvation Army.
Another $1.5 million will be allocated to the Domiciliary Hostel program to provide subsidy to low-income individuals for supportive housing while $125,000 will go to the Halton Housing Help Service program to locate new accommodation for individuals and families at imminent risk of becoming homeless.
All allocation plans must be submitted to the province by Feb.15 for the funding that covers a period from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.
Under the plan, any unused CHPI funding will be clawed back by the province so the allocation will undoubtedly be OK’d by Regional Council when it approves its 2015 operating budget. The Region has used all such provincial funding since the program’s inception in 2013.
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http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5262092-halton-region-investing-to-combat-homelessness/