The City of Yellowknife has released a proposal to allocate millions of dollars in federal Reaching Home funding over the next two years, including the purchase of a new street outreach van.
Through a four-year funding arrangement with the federal government, the city will receive $2.7 million in each of 2024-25 and 2025-26 to reduce and prevent homelessness.
Last month, the municipality was approved for an additional $896,082 to be spent by the end of April.
The total funding coming in is more than $6 million. At a meeting on Monday, councillors discussed a proposal approved by the Community Advisory Board on Homelessness to spend around $5.7 million of that.
From the top-up funding that has an April deadline, the city plans to give $230,000 to the Yellowknife Women’s Society’s street outreach program for a new accessible van. The program currently has two vans, one of which is back on the road after spending months in the shop. The other has been described as “on its last leg.”
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Mayor Rebecca Alty told Cabin Radio the women’s society has proposed purchasing a new van with a ramp that will be accessible to people with wheelchairs and walkers.
“It’s more of a fit-for-purpose outreach van versus the family van that they’ve been using,” she said.
From the same top-up fund, the city proposes allocating $167,788 to the Salvation Army for shelter repairs and upgrades, mattresses, rental assistance, employment assistance, programs at Bailey House and emergency food purchases.
The city is proposing $48,400 be given to YWCA NWT for a food security program and Indigenous wellness program, while $89,608 will go to administration costs and $260,246 is available for capital projects.
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Funding stability
Regarding the two larger pots of funding for the years ahead, Alty said this will be the first time the city designates funding over a two-year period. She said organizations had asked for that change.
“Knowing how much funding we have over the next two years, we’ll be able to have a bit more stability into the program,” she said.
The city plans to allocate the $2.7 million in funding for 2024-25 as follows:
- Housing First for youth – $393,893
- Housing First for families – $594,893
- Housing First for adults – $569,846
- Prevention and shelter diversion, youth – $100,000
- Prevention and shelter diversion, adults – $100,000
- Prevention and shelter diversion, families – $100,000
- Prevention and shelter diversion, seniors – $100,000
- Indigenous case management – $105,930
- Capital projects – $491,135
- Administration – $180,000
While the Community Advisory Board on Homelessness had recommended that $661,534 be spent on capital projects in 2024-25, city staff recommended a lower amount to account for administrative costs.
The city said those costs will include funding for a homelessness resources coordinator, half of the money needed for its homelessness specialist position, and a 2024 point-in-time homelessness count.
Alty said the city will now request proposals for how to spend funding allocated to capital projects.
In 2025-26, the city plans to spend just over $2 million of its $2.7-million Reaching Home allocation as follows:
- Housing First for youth – $393,893
- Housing First for families – $594,893
- Housing First for adults – $569,846
- Prevention and shelter diversion, youth – $100,000
- Prevention and shelter diversion, adults – $100,000
- Prevention and shelter diversion, families – $100,000
- Prevention and shelter diversion, seniors – $100,000
- Indigenous case management – $105,930
Alty said the city will meet early next year to allocate the remaining $671,135 in funding for 2025-26.
“All of these projects and allocations are certainly worthy,” councillor Garett Cochrane said at the meeting on Monday.
City councillors will formally vote on the funding proposal at their next regular meeting on February 26.
