A funding crisis at The Lighthouse supported living facility has been at the forefront of Community Safety Coordinator Herb Sutton’s agenda over the past few weeks.
Sutton reported to council he attended a meeting called by The Lighthouse management Jan. 8. Mayor Ian Hamilton was there, as was Social Services, First Nation representatives and other local residents.
According to Sutton, Social Services had let The Lighthouse know before Christmas a number of clients at The Lighthouse would no longer be funded by the agency.
“It really came down to a definition of homelessness,” said Sutton.
“To give you an example, if somebody showed up at The Lighthouse who was already on social assistance, so you’re receiving money for housing — it could be a mom with some children for example, and you felt it necessary to stay overnight at The Lighthouse — they wouldn’t be funded. And the rationale was they’re already paying for housing. So, you know, in some ways I can understand that.
“The problem is that some of the issues, it could be a domestic violence situation, it could be a number of problems that make that house an unsafe place to be. So, it’s a definitional thing.”
The bottom line was The Lighthouse faced a funding shortfall of about 50 per cent.
“I’m not a budget person, but if I’m short 50 per cent of the budget, I’m not going to be in business very long.”
The result of that meeting was that some members of the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Community Development Corporation said they would go back to the board and see if they could meet the shortfall, at least through March.
Mayor Hamilton pledged to arrange a meeting with the minister of Social Services, Donna Harpauer, and Sutton reported that did take place.
“They were given 15 to 20 minutes and it turned into an hour and a half, so that’s an encouraging sign,” said Sutton.
At this point there were no commitments from Social Services as to whether they would change their policy, said Sutton. However, Mayor Hamilton did confirm one piece of good news. There would be a funding commitment from the BATC CDC.
Other than that brief hiccup, The Lighthouse has been getting some good publicity. Sutton held up a copy of the Jan. 12 Saskatoon StarPhoenix,which ran a front page story on the work of The Lighthouse in North Battleford.
“We made the front page of the StarPhoenixand it wasn’t ‘negative,’” said Sutton.
As well, Sutton spoke about The Lighthouse preparing for their Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser initiative later this year. Already a number of teams are raising money for the fundraising walk on the evening of Feb. 20.
Sutton also suggested a more comprehensive housing strategy, not just dealing with homelessness but also what comes after, was needed and believed such a strategy would be helpful when going to the other levels of governments for help.
That was something Sutton said he would “put thought into” and pledged to get to work on. He said he was interested in the federal government’s infrastructure spending plans.
“In my mind I’m thinking homelessness, building houses, affordable housing might fit into that.”
Sutton also spoke of efforts towards putting in a Predictive Analysis Unit for North Battleford, making use of a data analyst who would allow policing services to be more “proactive” instead of “reactive.” As well, the data would not just be for the RCMP, but be for an inter-disciplinary team.
Work continues with Battlefords Union Hospital to implement the recommendations from the community safety audit conducted in that neighbourhood last year.
A meeting is coming up next week about the Safety Acceptance, Guidance, Empowerment group.
Sutton also noted work goes on towards promoting a positive image of North Battleford, pointing to presentations he’s made to a number of groups on the City’s community safety plan and the work of SAGE. More requests have come in from community groups and organizations on community safety.
Sutton also met for the first time earlier Monday with the City’s new communications co-ordinator, Susanne Abe, and said he looked forward to getting more “positive” news out there.
