Province announces $500K for community groups helping at-risk, homeless people

The Nova Scotia government has announced it will provide additional funding to help people struggling financially to find housing or to avoid becoming homeless.

14 community organizations will receive the money to help those facing housing barriers

Anjuli Patil · CBC News · Posted: Jun 05, 2024 3:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 5

A "final notice of disconnection" door handle notice from Nova Scotia Power is shown — Fourteen community organizations across Nova Scotia will get money from the province to help at-risk and homeless people facing barriers to finding or maintaining housing. (Nicola Seguin/CBC)

The Nova Scotia government says it will put more money toward helping people struggling financially to escape homelessness or to avoid becoming homeless.

In a news release on Wednesday, the province said it would provide a total of $500,000 in additional funds to 14 community organizations.

Chebecto Connections is one of the groups receiving a portion of the money. It supports people from Armdale to the Pennants in the Halifax area. But executive director Christina Carter said they've also been getting calls for help from other parts of Halifax, like Bedford and Lower Sackville.

"The funds would be used to pay off power bills so that people can secure housing or pay a damage deposit, help with moving costs so that they can secure housing or pay the rental arrears so that they don't get evicted," Carter said.

"With the housing subsidy, it can take up to three to four months to get approved. So obviously people get really behind on their bills. And so it's just trying to ... put them on an even playing field, in a sense."

On Wednesday, Carter said she received a call from a man who said he had contacted a bunch of other places before Chebucto Connections to get help with subsidy papers. Carter said the man started crying when they told him they could help.

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"It's heartbreaking, so having these funds are going to be able to allow us to expand, so that we're able to reach more people," Carter said.

Chebucto Connections also helps people come up with a plan to help people avoid getting behind on their bills in future by budgeting, for example, or by accessing programs that help reduce their living costs.

"I can pay your rent, but can you pay it next month? Because we can't pay it every month, right? So it really is trying to work with the family or individual to come up with something that works and is sustainable," she said.

The full list of funding recipients is as follows: