Nanaimo city councillors will send a letter to the Government of B.C. asking for more than $500,000, with a majority slated to cover staff salaries for a planned drop-in homeless centre.
During a council meeting on Monday night, Nanaimo councillors voted 6-2 in favour of writing Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog, requesting the government provide $550,000 in funding annually to help cover the cost of a proposed city-owned and operated daytime drop-in resource centre for people experiencing homelessness.
The idea of a centre, dubbed the ‘Landing Pad,’ has been floated by council for months. In March, council voted in favour of allocating $100,000 for the centre.
A draft of council’s letter, available on the city’s website, shows that council expects the drop-in centre to cost roughly $650,000 to operate on a yearly basis, with $400,000 being allocated to pay the salaries of just four employees.
According to the letter, the city believes the centre is needed in the community because there is nowhere for homeless people to go during the day. The city also wants to see the centre come with a range of amenities and services, such as health, counselling and advocacy supports, housing placement programs, pre-employment skills training, a clothing program, laundry facilities, showers and a meal program.
Meanwhile, a staff report shows there have been discussions with “several potential partners” regarding the operation of the daytime drop-in centre, but a “substantial amount” of money is needed in order for council’s concept to be realized.
Should the province be interested in providing financial support, additional negotiations will be needed with various agencies, according to the report, which also points out that there is no existing provincial program that provides funding for this type of service.
No location has been determined for the proposal.
During Monday’s meeting, Nanaimo resident Matthew O’Donnell raised concerns about the $400,000 earmarked for staffing costs and suggested the city find volunteers to do the work for significantly less.
“Your $400,000 for staff positions is outrageous,” he said.
Coun. Jerry Hong said the city pays its employees well and not a single non-profit decided to step up and help run the proposed centre, adding that in order to make the centre work, the city needs properly trained staff that are paid well.
“If we have to do this and we want to do this properly, [we need] proper help, properly trained people,” Hong said. “Nobody is going to go to school to become a nurse and all these other things and do this for free. That wasn’t our expectation. Our expectation was to put $100,000 as a place holder to get other people to buy into it, so that we could make a centre that is actually making a difference.”
While Coun. Jim Kipp said he did feel the wages proposed for the four staff members at the centre are high and crazy, he believes council needs to try something different and should lobby the government for much needed funding.
“We are trying to help and this is an idea to try and open it up, but I do believe the price has gone way beyond what it … can actually serve,” Kipp said.
Kipp along with Coun. Bill Bestwick voted against the motion.