Moncton continues to hold back House of Nazareth grant money

Moncton continues to withhold thousands of dollars of funding for one of the city's largest homeless shelters.

The city has held back $37,500 in grant funding to House of Nazareth for 2022 because of concerns about how the shelter is run. The municipality says it needs the results of a review of the shelter by OrgCode Consulting commissioned by the charity's board this year.

"We have not received the OrgCode report and what we require is an operational plan and demonstration that they are following best practices for operating a shelter," Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the city, said in an email. 

House of Nazareth's board chair, Rosaire L'Italien, says portions of the OrgCode report were given to city staff, but says he's not aware of a request for an operational plan.

"They asked for the report of the consultant, we showed them the report," L'Italien said in an interview Thursday.

LeBlanc said the city most recently requested the operational plan in a meeting with the charity's executive director on Oct. 14.

After the 100-bed shelter opened on Albert Street in 2019, residents and businesses regularly voiced complaints about crime and drug use. 

The province ordered an audit that pointed to problems with policies and financial management. The shelter's executive director resigned last year and its board was replaced.

Bruce Fitch, while he was minister of Social Development, said in July that "the problems don't seem to be going away."

Fitch suggested the shelter's provincial funding could be at risk without changes following the OrgCode review.

The current minister says they've seen changes since that report was completed.

"Over the past months, we have seen improvements in the management of their facility," Dorothy Shephard said in an emailed statement Thursday. 

"It's not the same Nazareth that it was before," L'Italien said. 

L'Italien said he didn't have the report in front of him when asked about the report's recommendations. The department wouldn't say what it recommended.

I think we need to start holding them more accountable.- Coun. Shawn Crossman, November 2021

The decision to withhold funding was made last year.

During deliberations on the 2022 budget in November 2021, staff said the money would be held in a reserve account until they received information from the charity. 

"I think we need to start holding them more accountable," Coun. Shawn Crossman said last year.

He said he'd support the withholding of grant funds "so that they understand that they cannot continue to let that shelter be the way it is."

The issue arose again last month as council examined the 2023 budget.

Joceyln Cohoon, the city's director of recreation, said the city has received "more positive information" following the OrgCode review. 

"Once we see the OrgCode report and their operational plan, we will be back to council to determine whether to release the funds to them or not based on where they're at at that time," Cohoon said. 

The money represents a sliver of the cost to run the shelter, L'Italien said this week. However, he said "we need this money."

House of Nazareth reported $1,290,270 in revenue and $1,162,411 in expenses last year, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.