Saint John will receive more than $3.5 million in federal funding over two years to help address unsheltered homelessness.
Officials from the federal and provincial governments were in the Port City on Friday to announce the new agreement.
The money will support the implementation of a Community Encampment Response and provide immediate support to those without a home.
Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long said the funding is a lifeline for the Saint John community.
“The funding will help individuals and families secure and maintain housing through tailored supports, provide temporary accommodation and transitional housing,” Long told the crowd of people in attendance.
It will also help create coordinated access to specialized services, he said, such as medical care, building life skills to reduce tenancy risks, and providing supports for appointments.
The funding comes as the number of people experiencing homelessness in Saint John continues to grow.
Figures from the Human Development Council showed a total of 417 people experienced homelessness for at least one day in January.
The number of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness increased to 272, up from just over 160 during the same period one year earlier.
Greg Bishop, senior director of the Human Development Council, said this new agreement is the beginning of a different type of approach to addressing homelessness.
“The integration between levels of government and community, the work that’s come together to get us to this point, has been tremendous. The work afterwards is what I’m looking most forward to,” he said.
Members of several non-profit groups that work with individuals experiencing homelessness were also at Friday’s announcement.
Saint John Mayor Donna Noade Reardon said they have been the advocates who have brought the issue to the forefront.
“When you’re working with a budget and you’re trying to get through things and you’ve got all of these fires you’re trying to put out, they remind us that it’s people we’re dealing with. Those are out citizens that we’re dealing with,” she said.
Social Development Minister Cindy Miles said thy are pleased to see additional assistance be provide to the city support ongoing efforts to address homelessness.
“We know that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution and there’s no one approach that will work for every individual. Every community is different, every individual has different needs,” said Miles.
“That’s why our focus as a government is continued collaboration with our municipalities, our community partners to address each other’s unique needs.”
The funding is in addition to the $67 million the federal government is providing to New Brunswick from 2019 through 2028 as part of its homelessness strategy.
