The City of Nanaimo\u2019s finance and audit committee is recommending that city council allocate $60,000 to continue a breakfast meal program until the end of the year.<\/p>\n
This is the second funding extension being requested for the program after council extended funding in July for four months.<\/p>\n
The Salvation Army and the 7-10 Club distribute 100 meals daily at Caledonia Park and at the overdose prevention site on Albert Street.<\/p>\n
The bulk of the funding, $52,880, will come from the money left over from the Daytime Resource Centre project with $7,120 from the city\u2019s strategic reserve.<\/p>\n
Previously, the 7-10 Club operated an indoor breakfast program in a city-owned building on Prideaux street that has since been converted into permanent supportive housing. The 7-10 Club has not been able to secure a new building since it closed in 2021.<\/p>\n
The Salvation Army ran an indoor breakfast program from the fall of 2021 until October 2022. Construction at the New Hope Centre forced a move to a distributed model where the food is prepared at the Salvation Army at a former White Spot restaurant on Terminal Avenue and it is distributed to people who are homeless by the 7-10 Club.<\/p>\n
The city sent a letter to the Ministers of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and Housing on September 15 to request funding for a permanent meal program but city staff say they haven\u2019t received a reply.<\/p>\n
Councillor Ian Thorpe says that he worries about the city spending money on services that should be funded by other levels of government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will support the recommendation for the funding until the end of the year,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I do have concerns going further down the calendar than that, because providing social services is not the mandate of the city per se.\u201d<\/p>\n
City Councilor Paul Manly says people who are unhoused say they need an indoor hub where they can access a variety of services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that a real need is to have that kind of hub for people to be able to get warm, have a meal, get their clothes cleaned, have a shower, have proper hygiene, and be able to live like dignified human beings,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to have a shower and then have a place to stay warm afterwards is really important in these colder weather months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manly also took aim at the Trudeau government for underfunding responses to Canada\u2019s homelessness crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of money that comes into this community from the federal government for this program is pathetic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt's leaving community organizations scrapping over bread crumbs to figure out how to deal with the crisis that we're in.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2020, the province announced funding for a Navigation Centre in Nanaimo for people experiencing homelessness, that would have included 60 shelter beds with wrap-around supports, something the city says it is still working on with BC Housing over three years later.<\/p>\n
Councillor Hiliary Eastmure says that while she supports continuing to fund the outreach breakfast program, what\u2019s really needed is to find an indoor space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is for people who don't have a dry place to eat their meal,\u201d she said \u201cThey've been out in the rain all night, and we'll be out in the rain all day. It's a heartbreaking situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eastmure says she would like to see people in the community with access to space step up to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just would implore the community, if you have an empty building that could be used for this,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we need to get a little bit more creative, and a little bit more open minded, about opening our doors to community members in need who deserve a dry place to be able to eat a meal.\u201d<\/p>\n
City staff also revealed that the city does not have funding from the Strengthening Communities' Services Program for a daytime warming centre this winter, but money is available from the provincial Community Emergency Preparedness Fund to respond to extreme cold weather events.<\/p>\n
The recommendation to extend funding for the breakfast meal program passed the committee unanimously and will now go to a future city council meeting for a decision.<\/p>\n
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