By Cecilia Nasmith
Northumberland Community Services Manager Sarah Tanner and Housing Services Manager Rebecca Carman were at the June meeting of council's Social Services Standing Committee to offer an update of the first two years of the 2019-2029 Ten Year Housing and Homelessness Plan.
The plan has two long-range outcomes, Carman said – that all Northumberland residents have access to safe, appropriate and affordable housing choices and to effect what she termed a functional-zero end to homelessness.
This is done through six strategies – increasing affordable housing options, implementing co-ordinated access for housing and support services, supporting housing stability, increasing supportive housing, building a diverse housing supply, and optimizing existing housing stock.
Highlights from 2019 and 2020 include the adoption of an Affordable Housing Strategy by council and implementation of a provincial-Federal Affordable Housing Program that includes such things as housing allowances and a renovation program.
Tanner noted the night and day warming rooms that were established this winter. The daily capacity of each was 20, she said, and the usual occupancy was 12. And a pilot Transitional Housing Project has just this week seen its first participant transitioned to permanent housing.
COVID-19 response was in effect for much of last year, which saw an interim shelter established, the roll-out of the Social Services Relief Fund, support to community housing providers (in terms of such things as enhanced cleaning and PPE) and quarantine spaces for people experiencing homelessness. In these cases, Tanner said, they also help ensure food and PPE are supplied to those quarantining.
Looking ahead, they will see construction begin on the 40-unit Elgin Park development in Cobourg in the coming months, and they are working on introducing what Carman called culturally competent urban Indigenous programming.
Carman also referred to the $1-million council had approved to establish the Affordable Housing Capital Grant Program, which provides forgivable $20,000 loans for qualifying housing situations.
In its motion to approve the plan, the committee recommended a copy be forwarded to the Regional Housing Services Municipal Services Office (Eastern Region) of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
