An organization providing services for disadvantaged people is set to lose more than half of its government funding at the end of March.
Centre 507 has been operating since 1983, providing food and services at its drop-in centre on 507 Bank St., as well as aiding people occupying rooming houses.
But a recent shift in the federal and provincial strategy for targeting homelessness has placed permanent housing above all other social assistance programs, such as those offered by Centre 507.
The organization will have to adjust to the $350,000 cut from its annual budget, a 54-per-cent reduction. As a result, the centre will be cutting five full-time positions and a likely reduction in the hours of operation, says executive director Richard LeBlanc.
“We’re only funded for five days, but we’re open for six,” says LeBlanc.
He says Centre 507 grew accustomed to funding that was used for extended hours, but this will change in the future.
“Most likely we’ll have to consider dropping an evening, or weekend,” says LeBlanc.
About 200 people visit every Sunday, adds LeBlanc.
He indicates there is a level of competition among the other 29 local agencies banking on obtaining a total of $16.4 million asked for similar initiatives.
Robert Glenn File, who says he sometimes uses the facility, approached the centre on a Tuesday afternoon. But the centre was already closed for the day.
He says cutting funding was possibly a “progressive” decision by the government.
“Because of competition, it may be a better decision for all of us,” he said as he pointed at the hours of operation, which read 12 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
File says other similar facilities are open longer.
“It’s like the small bookstore on Bank Street that can’t compete with Chapters,” says LeBlanc. “But we have found a way to do an amazing job once we open the doors.”
On April 1, Centre 507 will carry on with three full-time staff members and one part-time employee, down from the original total of eight employees before the cuts.
The organization is likely to scale back its support to the approximately 60 rooming-house residents living in the Centretown area, who face a number of issues, according to LeBlanc.
Leaking pipes, bed bugs, malfunctioning bathrooms and an aging population of residents are among the issues these residents face.
Providing access to medical care for disadvantaged locals has been a part of Centre 507’s mandate. LeBlanc told a story of a resident who had to get a colonoscopy, but was unable to make it to the hospital because he was heavily sedated in preparation for the procedure.
LeBlanc says a staff member was able to get him to the hospital in time.
“The reason why we got (funding) was because it was recognized that there was a big gap in service,” says LeBlanc.
Today, the shift for city officials tasked with allocating resources is to follow the “housing-first” mandate of obtaining permanent housing above other methods of social assistance.
City manager Aaron Burry indicates the implementation of this model has reduced homelessness by 90 per cent in the city’s downtown.
“We now see a decrease in the number of people living on the street from 140-160 down to 15-25 in the past few years,” says Burry.
LeBlanc says he doesn’t blame officials for rearranging funding, but he says Centre 507 is being forgotten about.