The start of a new three-year relationship that would see the City of Penticton pay a non-profit housing provider a total of $255,000 could be on its way sooner rather than later.
Council will be prompted to vote on whether mayor John Vassilaki as representative of the city should go ahead with formalizing an agreement with 100 More Homes Penticton at its upcoming meeting on April 5.
The potential agreement would see the city provide the non-profit organization with $85,000 each year until 2024 to respond to homelessness in the area and support those who are most vulnerable.
100 More Homes — a B.C.-based organization dedicated to ending homelessness around the province — is requesting financial support from Penticton to address the issue locally.
“Most urban communities in the country have a community entity that is intended to provide local leadership and coordination around homelessness and the non-housing market,” city staff wrote to council on the gap 100 More Homes can fill in Penticton.
The three-year partnership could be funded through administrative savings, provincial grants, or designated tax dollars, according to a report released by the city on Friday, April 1.
Council will include room for the agreement in the 2022 budget if grants are not successful in covering the $85,000 yearly price tag.
From 2016 to 2018, 100 More Homes Penticton says they housed 133 vulnerable citizens in the city.
The non-profit organization has recently partnered with Okanagan College, United Way British Columbia and A Way to Home Canada.
City councillors in Kelowna and Nanaimo, respectively, recently approved similar agreements with non-profit housing providers.
The proposal from 100 More Homes comes almost two months after Penticton council was presented with a report stating that 1 in 20 youth in the Peach City may be homeless.
Penticton’s next regular council meeting will begin at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5.
READ MORE: Report to Penticton council says 1 in 20 youth may be homeless
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