Contributing $100,000 to the community Emergency Winter Response proposal
Councillor Votes
Full Resolution Text
Whereas a number of partners in the community, including the Peterborough Police Service, Canadian Mental Health Association – Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA), FourCAST, the Housing Resource Centre, the United Way, and One City Peterborough, have prepared a proposal for an Emergency Winter Response dated November 25, 2022; and Whereas the proposal has been submitted to the City of Peterborough for a financial contribution in the amount of $100,000 to finalize the funding needed for this program; and Whereas the City of Peterborough has declared a Homelessness Emergency; and Whereas there are approximately 326 unhoused individuals in the City and County of Peterborough, according to the Built for Zero monthly data from October 2022; and Whereas the 2021 Point in Time Count for Peterborough reported a 350% increase in outdoor homelessness, with 47 of 176 respondents (or 27%) indicating they were sleeping outdoors in December; and Whereas the current shelter system is neither sufficient for nor accessible to all unhoused individuals; and Whereas we are days away from winter, when temperatures will drop, and an increasing number of unhoused individuals in our community will face imminent risk of injury or death; and Whereas people who are homeless live half as long as those who are housed – a pattern that is exacerbated by unmitigated exposure to environmental harms (e.g., extreme cold or heat), as well as preventable deaths caused by solitary drug use; and Whereas the Government of Canada ratified the National Housing Strategy Act, thereby enshrining the right to adequate housing as a fundamental human right; Therefore, be it resolved that: The City of Peterborough provide a grant to the aforementioned community partners, through One City, in the amount of $100,000, for an Emergency Winter Response as outlined in the proposal dated November 25, 2022, for the period January 5, 2023 to April 30, 2023, and that the amount be funded from the Social Services Reserve; and that senior City of Peterborough staff develop a sustainable ongoing Winter Respite Plan to be presented to Council for approval by March 31, 2023.