The future of daytime drop-in services provided by Ark Aid Street Mission is uncertain ahead of a funding decision by City Council on Tuesday.
Up to 300 people visit The Ark at 696 Dundas St. each day for support services and access to basic needs including food, washrooms, showers, and laundry.
“We get referrals from the police, from hospitals, from much more expensive systems because it’s not a crime to be poor and homeless - but there does need to be a place for people to go,” explained Executive Director Sarah Campbell.
In February, City Council directed civic administration to redirect federal funds away from Ark Aid Street Mission’s daytime drop-in spaces and instead ask other homeless shelters if they can use the funding to open additional overnight beds.
The effort only yielded 16 beds at The Salvation Army Centre of Hope and left The Ark’s daytime drop-in program unfunded after March 31.
On Tuesday, Council must decide if the remaining $611,000 should be redirected back to the daytime drop-in program.
Earlier this month, the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee was deadlocked (2-2) after Councillor Susan Stevenson reminded them about a previous decision not to cluster resting spaces on the main street of business districts.
“Nine councillors voted to say (resting spaces) should not be on the main street of BIAs (Business Improvement Areas) in November for the upcoming winter,” Stevenson explained. “So what would have those councillors changing their mind to now say yes as we approach the summer?”
However, Campbell says the rotational daytime drop-in program does not include any ‘resting spaces’ as referenced in the council decision.
The resting spaces offered at 696 Dundas St. in the Old East Village (OEV) BIA are funded separately through private donations.
“The issues the Old East Village are raising aren’t ignored - they are real,” acknowledged Campbell. “But the solution is not to shut it down. The solution is to ensure that we have enough (service) to meet the need.”
“We’ve got hundreds of people who call this block home, and what are their rights? The Ark talks about being a voice for the minority, well so am I,” Stevenson said about her constituents living in OEV. “These people do not have a voice. Those who live in the Medallion buildings or in the Tolpuddle buildings.”
“It is costing taxpayers to bring people (to The Ark), and then it’s costing taxpayers to pay for CIR (Community Informed Response), by-law officers, and police to work against that. Wouldn’t it be better to not do it here? Find a proper location and allow those resources to go where they’re needed,” Stevenson added.
Campbell asserted that The Ark has looked for an alternative location to provide services, but securing a location requires consistent funding and a willing seller or landlord.
She emphasized that people who utilize the drop-in services be forced to meet their own basic needs like food and washrooms - only worsening the challenges faced by businesses in the Old East Village.
“What worries me most is if we’re not funded, those businesses have nowhere to send people.” Campbell explained. “It will become exclusively the job of the BIA and the businesses to solve.”
A petition by Ark Aid Street Mission to maintain funding for the daytime drop-in program has received over 1,400 signatures since Friday.
Council makes a final decision about funding the program on April 1.
