Homelessness Partnering Strategy Update

Kamloops, BC – The City of Kamloops and the Government of Canada are nearing the end of year four of the five-year Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) funding agreement. Between 2014 and 2019, over $3 million will have been distributed to the City for initiatives aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness by providing direct support and funding to the community.

The City is responsible for administering, managing, and distributing the federal HPS funding in our community. Decisions on how the funds are allocated are made by a Community Advisory Board (CAB), which consists of members representing diverse sectors: persons with disabilities, youth, seniors, women, men, urban Indigenous people, people with lived experience, sheltering services, food programs, business, education, criminal justice, and health. Representatives from the United Way, the City, and Service Canada also participate on the CAB, but they are non-voting members.

When funding is available, the City issues a call for proposals. The CAB reviews applications and makes funding recommendations to the City based on the needs of the community within five priority areas identified in the HPS Community Plan. These priority areas and funded projects for 2017-2018 include the following:

• Housing First (e.g. housing set-up and repairs, case management, monitoring progress, working with clients to set and reach goals, rehousing)
  • ASK Wellness Society – Tenancy Development Program
  • Boys & Girls Club of Kamloops – Youth Housing Support Worker
  • Interior Community Services – Youth Housing First Stabilization Initiative
  • John Howard Society – Prisons to Community Program
  • New Life Community – Outreach Worker
  • Lii Michif Otipemisiwak – Indigenous Youth Housing Manager and A Place of Belonging Program
• Capital Investments (e.g. renovations or repurposing of facilities, purchase of furniture or equipment) – no projects funded during this fiscal year
• Support Services (e.g. connecting clients to income supports, life skills development, connecting clients to education, housing loss prevention, basic or urgent needs services)
  • ASK Wellness Society – Seniors’ Tenancy Development Program
  • Elizabeth Fry Society – Family Stepping Stones Program
  • Elizabeth Fry Society – Lived Experience Committee and My Place Program
  • Interior Community Services – Youth Street Outreach Services
  • Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society – Clean Stop Program
  • White Buffalo Aboriginal and Métis Health Society – Aboriginal Family and Community Response Project
• Data Collection and Use (e.g. point-in-time counts, information collection and sharing, community indicators) – no projects funded during this fiscal year
• Coordination of Resources (e.g. identifying, integrating and improving services; supporting a broader systematic approach to addressing homelessness; working with the housing sector to identify opportunities for, and barriers to, permanent housing)
  • Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre – Resource Fair
  • City of Kamloops – Project Connect
  • City of Kamloops – Storage Facility for Personal Belongings

A National Advisory Committee on Homelessness was formed in 2017 with the mandate to support redesigning the HPS beyond the five-year contract end date of March 31, 2019. It is anticipated that the City will be provided with the details of that redesign in summer 2018 and will be in a position to negotiate a future contract.

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