SPC recommending council give federal funding for Streets Alive outreach program

By Lethbridge Herald on February 17, 2023.

The Cultural and Standing Policy Committee Thursday passed a motion reccomending council approve federal funding for Streets Alive outreach programming. Herald file photo

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

A request that city council approve up to $215,460 of Reaching Home federal funding for the  Streets Alive Mission to operate outreach programming brought a strong response from a member of city council at Thursday’s Cultural and Standing Policy Committee.

John Middleton-Hope, who is not a member of the SPC but was present at the meeting,  questioned the capability of Streets Alive to conduct such programming in light of how it handled the warming centre for which it also received funding in December.

In a 2-1 vote, the SPC voted in favour of a motion recommending council approve up to $215,460 per year of Reaching Home funding for 2023-26.

Voting in favour were committee chair Mark Campbell and councillor Jeff Carlson while councillor Nick Paladino was opposed. Acting mayor Jenn Schmidt-Rempel left the meeting before the item came up on the agenda.

Council in full will address the motion on March 7.

Paladino said he couldn’t support the motion because “this is a lot of money we’re talking about. There’s too many questions, too many objections.”

The request for funding came from the Community Wellbeing and Safety Strategy Advisory committee.

A report to the SPC says “there has been a significant rise in encampments in our community in recent years, underscoring the urgency for comprehensive housing supports in Lethbridge including outreach services. Outreach programs aid the state of the community by serving as the first point-of-contact for vulnerable community members, especially those residing in encampments, that require access to the continuum of care.”

On Nov. 29, council adopted its budget which included funding for Lethbridge outreach programs. Funding of $153,460 was approved for this service in 2023 with $260,000 approved for years 2024-26.

“This recommendation to approve the CWSS federal grant funding allocation, in tandem with the approved municipal funding, would enable CSD (Community Social Development) to provide the required resources for outreach programming,” says the report.

Streets Alive was the only agency that submitted an application to operate the service after a Request for Quote was issued in December. Administration has determined its application met the operational requirements and after negotiations, Streets Alive was informed of its selection as the successful proponent.

Middleton-Hope made clear he felt Streets Alive is ill-equipped to do the job.

“I don’t see in any of the documentation here the skill sets that would be required by Streets Alive and/or any other organization to effectively transition and manage a project of this nature. No expertise, no experience,” he said.

The councillor said “I think the warming centre was an example of their ability to manage a project and they came back and indicated they could not handle the project within about a week of taking it on. That’s problematic.”

He added “if the committee does not see fit to kill this motion on the vine, I would recommend that a delay of funding until March 16 SPC is in order. Until we get more information on how Streets Alive will deliver these services. I’m not satisfied that there is proof they have the expertise, the experience, or the resources”  to complete the KPIs (key performance indicators) of this project. In addition, we’ve seen some significant challenges, both to the process as well as to the successful bidder and I think that would provide us with an opportunity and then to provide credible demonstration that they are capable of handling a project of this size and scope.

Carlson said he supported the motion to get it in front of council as it’s something council needs to fully discuss.

“The committee isn’t approving this, it’s just putting it in front of council. My concern is if we don’t get it in front of council, we may not have a good fulsome discussion of what the intention actually is,” he said.

“There seems to be a lot of confusion around what exactly is contemplated here. We had some discussion around what outreach services are as opposed to encampment cleanups and enforcements et cetera and I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding of what this is to be. This is one tool, a necessary tool in my opinion, to go out to where people are, not to bring them in to a building as was done with the comfort centre, per se. . .this is for folks to go out and do outreach” at encampments which he predicts will again be set up as the weather warms.

Carlson said encampments will grow and spread unless services can reach the people in them to get them to seek better options and to access the continuum of care to “find better ways to experience life in our community.”

Two lawyers and owners of the building next to Streets Alive expressed their concerns about Streets Alive operating the programming giving their personal experience with the warming shelter.

One expressed frustration with council, saying every time something comes up that’s controversial, they go in camera and wondered what was spoken behind closed doors during the 20 minutes the SPC was recessed.

He said public patience and perception is running thin with the lack of co-ordinated efforts by the City and organizations trying to help the homeless.

He said efforts seem like last-minute band-aid solutions, adding the frustration isn’t with any individuals or specific agency but rather the lack of a co-ordinated response.

He said his company witnessed first hand “mismanagement of the warming centre” at Streets Alive.

Another business owner said on Jan. 6, a day after the warming shelter closed, there was relief downtown. He said the new owners of the homeless shelter have done more in four weeks than he’s seen in the four years he’s operated a business in Lethbridge.

“Talking about an outreach or funding more money to another organization just doesn’t make sense. You’re not even giving these people an opportunity to do what they do and they offer outreach at a professional level,” he said.

The business owner added he read every piece of material for the SPC meeting but the RFQ had no information, data or plan.