Funding boost improves services for Collingwood homeless: county

Average shelter bed needs between $20,000 to $25,000 per year to operate, but prior to this year, the County of Simcoe was spending about $6,500 per year per bed

Emergency shelters across Simcoe County have been running underfunded, but with a boost in provincial dollars, that will change according to a county official.

Mina Fayez-Bahgat, general manager of social and community services with the County of Simcoe, provided a deputation to Collingwood council during their committee of the whole meeting on Sept. 25. He outlined major changes coming to homelessness supports across the board through the county’s new 10-point plan and discussed new supports coming to Collingwood this year to help those experiencing homelessness.

Fayez-Bahgat referenced a review of the homelessness shelter system completed by the county and presented to county councillors in April which outlined 40 recommendations on how the county could improve services.

“One of the biggest things we heard was our shelter system was underfunded,” said Fayez-Bahgat. “It really gave us a road map on what to do.”

Around the same time, Fayez-Bahgat said the province announced $200 million in additional funding for the provincial homelessness prevention program, which saw the County of Simcoe receive an increase of 86 per cent in funding for programs in 2023. The previous allocation was just over $11.3 million which was boosted to $21 million starting in 2023.

“At a time where we were talking about having to make some hard decisions, we got funding that allows us to take on many approaches and address many of the recommendations,” he said.

He noted the average shelter bed needs between $20,000 to $25,000 per year to operate, but prior to this year, the county was spending about $6,500 per year per shelter bed.

“We have now asked every shelter provider to put in what they need in order to operate better. We’re not asking for more beds. We’re asking for better service,” he said.

Fayez-Bahgat elaborated on specific programs the county provides, such as deep rent subsidies for Housing First and outreach teams to dole out to those who might benefit, new supportive housing programs such as the Rose St. project in Barrie, a new pilot program that provides storage units for people experiencing homelessness and enhancing outreach services.

He also talked about a new centralized intake system for after-hours services through Community Connection 211 that can be accessed by all service providers across the county, and can arrange transportation for clients to access supports. Housing retention funding has been doubled this year for families to access through grants which can help struggling families dealing with overdue bills or first and last month’s rent.

Fayez-Bahgat said Collingwood would be getting a dedicated outreach team through the county this year. He said the county also has a community safety team that is scheduled to assess Collingwood’s downtown in the spring.

The county’s domiciliary care program is being reactivated this year following a previous funding freeze, with beds planned in Collingwood. A domiciliary care facility refers to privately owned places providing shelter, food and supervision to vulnerable seniors and people with special needs. The county, through it's program, funds beds in approved facilities to cover the costs of shelter and personal needs for low-income individuals who cannot live on their own, but do not qualify for long-term care.

“These are light-touch supports but can be used when people are discharged from hospital into homelessness,” he said.

The previously seasonal motel voucher program in Collingwood will now also be running year-round. The county will be establishing emergency shelter standards that will need to be followed by all providers, including the Busby Centre South Georgian Bay.

“I did a road tour when I started (nine months ago), and I was surprised by the differences. If I’m surprised, I’m sure clients trying to access shelter (are too),” he said.

Fayez-Bahgat said the best measure to determine whether chronic homelessness is reducing in a community is to compare the number of people entering chronic homelessness, versus how many are leaving it.

“Our goal as a county is to hit a functional zero. For every person that enters...one is exiting,” he said.

Coun. Chris Potts noted his personal passion around the issue of homelessness in Collingwood.

“I get frustrated from time to time when I hear there’s lots being done in areas like Barrie, and I get the impression sometimes that communities like Collingwood are forgotten,” said Potts.

“Hearing this today reassures me that there is potential and hope,” he said.

Potts asked about a controlled encampment in Waterloo that includes structures on-site, and whether a similar model could be used in Collingwood.

Fayez-Bahgat said the Waterloo model wasn’t instantaneous, and was the product of investment in wraparound services to make the project successful. Those wraparound services, he said, do not yet exist in the County of Simcoe. One such service is a safe consumption site.

“It took 10 years of work to get a program like that,” he said. “In our communities, we have great agencies that do incredible work but I don’t know if they have the skills to run such a high-vulnerable-population-needs program right now.”

However, Fayez-Bahgat said he is open to developing such a system over time.

The County of Simcoe’s Homelessness Prevention Strategy includes: