Three Calgary groups helping the homeless benefited by more than $2 million last week from federal government grants, part of funding announced in December 1999 and included in last February’s budget.
The Supporting Community Partnerships Initiative contributed $1.3 million to the Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope project; $500,000 to the YWCA Family Violence Prevention Centre and Sheriff King Home; and $225,000 to the Calgary Urban Project Society.
The Salvation Army grant will go towards the new shelter under construction at 9th Avenue and 4th Street S.E. and the Sheriff King grant will go towards expanding facilities to help those homeless because of family violence.
The CUPS grant will go to people facing homelessness crises.
The Centre for Hope will be a multi-service facility that should help improve the quality of care for the city’s homeless population, said Maj. Reg Newbury of the Salvation Army. The project has been five years in the making. Total cost will be $21 million and more funding is still needed.
The Salvation Army put up the proceeds from the sale of its old downtown building and part of the money from the Grace Hospital. The city put in $1.48 million and the province guaranteed a mortgage of up to $3 million, said Newbury.
The army is seeking $10 million in a major gifts campaign. Newbury estimates that a quarter of that has been contributed already.
Mario Siciliano of the Sheriff King Home said the SCPI funds will provide 10 more beds at the shelter and help with a 14,000-sq.-ft., non-residential counselling facility that’s now under construction.
The YWCA family violence prevention work will be able to serve 1,026 women and children a year in the shelter and 3,000 more non-residential clients. The non-residential counselling will aid families earlier in the family violence cycle.
It should prevent some women and children having to use the shelter, said Siciliano. The total cost is $3 million and the YWCA is still seeking $500,000 in funding.
CUPS will use its grant to help people who are homeless or on the verge of homelessness, said executive director Lorraine Melchior. “What we are talking about here is poverty,” she said.
People coming to Calgary to find jobs often have a difficult time, she said. Others need a security deposit to secure rental accommodation that is within their financial means.
Other funds might be used to supplement rents. For example, CUPS recently helped a woman in her 60s who had been living in a car find accommodation. She had part of the money for a security deposit and CUPS was able to work with the landlord, said Melchior.
