Shelter Beds Go Empty

But the city is suggesting we spend more money to support those that chose to live on the street. Sheer Stupidity. On the other hand they crow about the number of homeless they get off the street and this is fine but what about some support for those people who are working and living below the poverty line. When is the city going to help them.

Also I support the elementary school meal program and the cost could be easily covered by reducing city union staff by six members.

But On the agenda: roof, food, wages
Development and recreation committee tackles homelessness and hunger
February 20, 2007
Donovan Vincent
City Hall Bureau

Toronto has been able to get more than 1,000 homeless people off the street in less than two years – the majority of them still housed – through the Streets to Homes strategy, a committee report says.

Though that isn't a huge jump from last year's figure of 700, officials behind the effort say it's paying off.

The goal now isn't to give out sleeping bags so people can sleep more comfortably on the streets, says Phil Brown, general manager of the city's Shelter Support and Housing Administration. The directive to outreach workers and agencies now is that sleeping bags, if distributed at all, should be used to help transition people into shelters, drop-ins, and ideally permanent housing, Brown said.

"We're moving from passive supports to a more pro-active approach aimed at getting people housed," Brown said.

The report, tabled before the city's community development and recreation committee yesterday, said Streets to Homes has been funded almost entirely by a federal program called the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI).

Ottawa has renamed the program the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS), a two-year, $270 million national initiative.

It will begin April 1, after SCPI ends in March.

Yesterday's report was tabled amid a busy day featuring a host of anti-poverty initiatives put forward by the committee.

A bid to have Toronto lobby the province to hike the minimum wage to $10 won the committee's support in a 5-1 vote.

"This is not an NDP bill; it affects all people regardless of party (affiliation)" said Councillor Frances Nunziata, who brought forward a proposal that council endorse Bill 150, a private member's bill by New Democrat MPP Cheri DiNovo.

Councillor Michael Walker, who co-wrote the proposal, called the wage hike an issue of "basic justice," adding that people whose pay goes up will buy more, benefiting the economy.

The government's position against a hike beyond $8 is "not defensible," Walker said.

The omnibus anti-poverty package endorsed by the committee included reforms Toronto health authorities have been seeking to ensure that low-income people can afford nutritious food, such as a boost in social assistance rates, the National Child Benefit and the Canada Child Tax Benefit; expanded funding by Toronto for youth meal programs; and restoration of funding for elementary school meal programs.

Other reforms the committee called for include:

# A significant increase in the Canada Child Tax Benefit and National Child Benefit, and an end to clawbacks of the National Child Benefit from Ontario's social assistance recipients.

# Expanded funding by Toronto for youth meal programs, at a cost of $623,981, and restoration of funding for elementary school meal programs at a cost of $300,000.

The committee's package goes before city council next month.