Partner groups in provincial homelessness projects plead for more public funding

Two non-profit groups the provincial government relies on to house and support homeless people have told a legislative committee they desperately need more funding.

Marie-France LeBlanc, executive director of the North End Community Health Centre in Halifax, said her non-profit was struggling to meet the growing demand for assistance, while trying to satisfy the diverse requirements of the centre's 30 federal and provincial funding sources.

"Instead of focusing solely on delivering and expanding services to meet the growing needs of our community, we are often caught up in the struggles to piece together the necessary funds to keep our programs and organizations running," said LeBlanc. 

"This fragmented approach to funding not only threatens the sustainability of our programs, but also limits our ability to scale up initiatives that are clearly working."

She said other organizations involved in trying to house and support individuals experiencing homelessness also struggled with the piecemeal and unpredictable funding.

"We're not appropriately funded," LeBlanc told the all-party committee. "If we're going to be a solution to a problem, which we've been counted on for the past three years, we really need to step up and allow these organizations to be properly funded."

Sheri Lecker, executive director at Adsum for Women and Children, said the scale of the problem and the lack of support was disheartening.

"There's nothing new in what we are saying today — except it's worse," said Lecker.

"I've been at it for more than 20 years in this community. And I don't want to say I have given up hope, but I do not see enough avenues of real hope to address this."

Adsum was supporting around 200 people with "emergency shelter," and over 100 others were living in permanent housing in properties owned by Adsum in the Halifax area, she said. Her organization was supporting another 315 people "in hotels, campsites, couch-surfing or in emergency units."

Lecker said there were 197 children among those receiving assistance from Adsum. She said hope was possible, but not "until we start to talk about permanent housing that people can afford. And that's not what we see being built."

No new commitment from povince

Joy Knight, a former Community Services official who now works at the Department of Health, also testified before the committee. She is trying to better co-ordinate the province's response to inter-departmental issues such as homelessness.

She told the assembled politicians the province was committed to "thinking differently" about complex problems, and that its partnership with Adsum in running The Bridge was a good example of that.

The government opened The Bridge, which it calls "a first-of-its-kind integrated services shelter with on-site health services," in May 2023. It extended the multi-million dollar lease for the project for another year this past spring.

Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Knight would not commit to providing the two groups with more money, citing the need "for deeper conversations."

"We've heard some really important things today," said Knight. "And we've been having some great conversations about what kind of funding they need to augment and expand existing services, and certainly we'll be looking forward to following up with them after this."