Program aimed at preventing homelessness on P.E.I. relaunches with fresh funding
CBC
A program aimed at preventing homelessness on Prince Edward Island that was halted last year due to funding issues is back up and running again with support from the provincial and federal governments.
The John Howard Society’s Prevention and Diversion Fund (PDF) originated as a pilot project and was administered by the society on behalf of provincial government, but is now being run solely by the non-profit organization.
The program’s new funding still includes $100,000 from province, as well as $150,000 from the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness’ Homelessness Reduction Innovation Fund, which is part of the federal government’s Reaching Home Homelessness strategy.
Conor Mullin, president of the John Howard Society of P.E.I., said it’s “fantastic” that the group has been able to relaunch the program.
“Unfortunately the need is still pressing and still very high,” he told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.
The fund provides things like damage deposits and first months' rent to help people secure accommodations, along with help paying rental arrears to assist those who may be at risk of eviction.
“This program is what we call a program of last resort,” Mullin said.
“People who find themselves at imminent risk of homelessness or people who are in a position to leave an either unsafe or unsuitable housing situation and who have exhausted all other potential avenues ... can reach out to our fund.”
He said the program also offers wraparound supports, like matching people with a case worker who can help with budgeting, education, life skills, and strategies to avoid eviction.
Last summer, the John Howard Society said it was ending the program after demand for housing outpaced the amount of money the P.E.I. government was willing to spend.
A spokesperson for the province said in a statement at the time that it had not reduced its contribution to the fund, and that the "current concern raised by the organization stems from the loss of other revenue sources, and they have requested that the province increase its funding to offset those external shortfalls."
The statement added that it asked for a review of the program to ensure clients were using the service appropriately.
"Upon review, it was noted that over 40 per cent of clients to the PDF were on Social Assistance and would have been eligible for funding through existing avenues available to them," the statement read.
Mullin said Thursday that is “kind of true and not true at the same time.”
When a U.S. company made its data centre pitch to some concerned Saint John residents late last year, he called the city an untapped “gold mine” for artificial intelligence projects.
Over the past seven years, when outgoing premier François Legault's government tabled a contentious bill, he would often justify it by saying it represented the will of the vast majority of Quebecers.
The union representing Manitoba's nurses is concerned a reduction in the number of nursing agencies the province works with could exacerbate staffing shortages during the transition period.
Developers convinced a Saskatoon city council committee Wednesday to give some more thought to proposed changes to a longstanding incentive to encourage infill.
A Regina real estate agent has been sanctioned by the Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission after he arranged to pay someone to tamper with other businesses' Google Business profiles.
Peter Bevan-Baker will not be running for re-election in the next provincial election, the Green Party of P.E.I. announced Thursday morning.
Businesses in Edmonton don’t have to recycle or compost — but that could soon change.
A day after two elderly Vancouver Island women told RCMP they had been scammed for thousands of dollars, a man walked into the detachment saying he took their money during his delivery work and was unsure if what he was doing was legal.
Schools across the Hamilton, Niagara, Burlington and Brantford areas are closed today after the area was hit with a winter storm overnight.
All school buses in Windsor and Essex County are cancelled on Thursday morning according to Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services.
Newly released court documents in the case of Jack and Lilly Sullivan offer more details on the relationship between their mother and stepfather leading up to the children's disappearance more than eight months ago.
Another sawmill in northwestern Ontario is being shut down indefinitely.
Heavy snow throughout the Greater Toronto Area is forcing residents to rethink their Thursday morning schedules due to transit delays and a number of school closures.