Huntsville Mayor, Nancy Alcock, announces approval of Homelessness Prevention Program
Huntsville Mayor, Nancy Alcock, announced the Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP) was approved by the Community and Planning Services Committee (CAPS), in the May 21, 2024, District of Muskoka Council meeting.
She advised that CAPS approved the program in the Investment Plan for 2024 to 2025.
She said, “Really, this is a requirement of the province, as part of their transfer agreement with us for this year was $2,068,000. In order to receive that we have to present our homelessness plan and that goes for all of our emergency shelters and everything else that we know.”
The HPP is a province-wide provincially funded program that supports municipalities to provide affordable housing and related services to community members facing homelessness. Services include emergency shelters, housing, community outreach, and housing assistance.
According to the CAPS agenda, the Commissioner of CAPS has been authorized to submit an Investment Plan to the province, and to amend it and execute an agreement on behalf of it with service providers for implementation and to maximize funding.
According to the CAPS report for the April 18th meeting, “The District directly, or through partnerships, delivers HPP funded services and activities that are aligned with the District’s 10-year Affordable Housing and Homelessness Plan to guide the community towards a system focused on homelessness prevention and housing stability.”
The report outlines the funding to be divided between services, with $941,354 for community outreach and supports, $38,603 for emergency shelters, $638,000 for housing assistance, $346,843 for supportive housing, and $103,400 towards administration.
It adds, “HPP is a 100% provincially funded program, and not subject to the current negotiations between the Government of Canada and Province of Ontario that may affect funding under the National Housing Strategy.”
It continues, “The HPP allocation was known at the time of budget preparation and has already been included in the Approved 2024 Tax Supported Operating Budget.”
