Prince George Mayor and Council gave the green light to City staff to apply for a $2.5 million grant that would support the local unsheltered homeless population.
The funding would be provided through the Strengthening Communities’ services program.
$100 million in COVID relief funding was set aside for the program by the Provincial and Federal governments earlier this year.
“It’s unprecedented, I’ve never seen this kind of opportunity in the past,” said Councillor Murry Krause at tonight’s (Monday) meeting.
“It’s an opportunity for $2.5 million to come to Prince George to address these issues. I like the balance, some enforcement, clean-up, and social services.”
Should the application be successful, Prince George would be using the funds to renovate the new community safety hub.
The City will also hire an on-site coordinator and two new outreach workers under a pilot program, to work alongside bylaw service officers at the hub.
In addition, two more RCMP officers dedicated to downtown would be added, for a total of four overall.
Then, the empty lot across from the hub would be fenced and the Native Friendship Centre’s homeless storage site expanded.
The new site would have bathrooms, showers, storage, and an on-site mental health worker.
Lastly, a comprehensive engagement of the city’s unsheltered population would be implemented to ask individuals directly about what they need the most.
“We don’t really do a good job of talking to the unsheltered homeless population about their needs, or their interests and involvement,” said Chris Bone, Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships.
“We get most of our information from the point in time count, and the last one was done in 2018 with pretty minimal feedback.”
Councillor Garth Frizzell said the project is vital as homelessness continues to be an issue, but he would like to see it turn into ongoing funding.
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