Item - 2017.CD22.8

The Community Development and Recreation Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to extend funding and enter into an agreement, or amending agreement, as required, with Neighbourhood Information Post for the Rent Bank Program, as outlined in Appendix A to the report (August 25, 2017) from the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, from April 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019 for up to $2,158,408 gross and $0 net of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding subject to approval of the 2018 and 2019 City Operating Budgets as follows:

a.  from April 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $1,079,204 gross and $0 net; and

b.  from January 1 to September 30, 2019 for up to $1,079,204 gross and $0 net.

2.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to enter into new agreements or amend existing agreements and allocate funds of up to five percent of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative and Homeless Initiatives Fund project funds from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 for up to $915,682 gross and $132,965 net to respond to:

a.  emerging issues and/or unexpected situations impacting the community; and

b.  to realign projects and fund new projects resulting from an Application for Continued Funding for currently funded and approved Drop-in projects as follows:

i.  from April 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $686,762 gross and $99,724 net; and

ii.  from January 1 to March 31, 2019 for up to $228,920 gross and $33,241 net.

3.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to extend funding and enter into agreements with two additional funded Drop-in projects, as outlined in Appendix B to the report (August 25, 2017) from the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 for up to $141,500 gross and $0 net of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding subject to approval of the 2018 and 2019 City Operating Budgets for Shelter, Support and Housing Administration as follows:

a. from April 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $106,125 gross and $0 net; and

b. from January 1 to March 31, 2019 for up to $35,375 gross and $0 net.

4.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to extend funding and enter into an agreement with Daily Bread Food Bank, as outlined in Appendix C to the report (August 25, 2017) from the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, from April 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $247,500 gross and $0 net of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding subject to the approval of the 2018 City Operating Budget.

5.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to issue a Request for Proposals and enter into a new agreement with the successful applicant(s) to coordinate and deliver healthy foods to drop-ins across the city from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, for up to $330,000 gross and $0 net of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding subject to the approval of the 2019, City Operating Budget.

6.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to allocate funds for a 2018 Capacity Building Fund for up to $125,000 gross and $0 net of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative subject to the approval of the 2018 and 2019 City Operating Budgets as follows:

a.  from January 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $100,000 gross and $0 net; and

b.  from January 1 to March 31, 2019 for up to $25,000 gross and $0 net.

7.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to extend funding and enter into an agreement with Fred Victor Centre, as outlined in Appendix D to the report (August 25, 2017) from the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration , to provide 35 additional overnight women’s drop-in spaces to address the service needs of vulnerable women from January 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $500,000 gross and $160,000 net in Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding.

8.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to extend funding and enter into agreements with Margaret's Housing and Community Support Services Inc. and St. Felix Social Ministries Outreach to provide cold weather drop-in services, as outlined in Appendix E to the report (August 25, 2017) from the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, during 2017 and 2018 for up to $656,000 gross and $416,000 net in Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding subject to the approval of the 2018 City Operating Budget as follows:

a. from October 15 to December 31, 2017 for up to $30,000 gross and $0 net; and

b. from January 1 to April 30, 2018 for up to $626,000 gross and $416,000 net.

9.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to enter into agreements with the successful proponents of Requests for Quotations for evaluation services for tenant projects from January 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $75,000 gross and net of Poverty Reduction funding subject to the approval of the 2018 City Operating Budget.

10.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to extend funding and enter into an agreement with a community agency to operate a Scarborough Drop-In Project, based on the results of a Request for Proposals, from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019 for up to $151,500 gross and $71,500 net of Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative funding subject to the approval of the 2018 and 2019 City Operating Budgets as follows:

a. from April 1 to December 31, 2018 for up to $113,625 gross and $53,625 net; and

b. from January 1 to March 31, 2019 for up to $37,875 gross and $17,875 net.

11.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to develop funding priorities based on the Service Manager Service Agreement Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (the "Provincial Agreement") between the City of Toronto and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and to: (i) allocate funding; (ii) enter into agreements to deliver projects in line with the terms and conditions of the Provincial Agreement; and, (iii) execute any documentation required to give effect thereto.

12.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to develop funding priorities for the City of Toronto Homeless Initiatives Fund and Shelter, Support and Housing Administration's Poverty Reduction funding, and to: (i) allocate funding; (ii) enter into agreements to deliver projects in line with the terms and conditions of these funding programs; and, (iii) execute any documentation required to give effect thereto.

13.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to enter into amendments to the 2014 contribution agreement with Service Canada or related entity for: i) up to $4,324,097 in funding under the continued enhancement of the Homelessness Partnering Strategy, or any new federal homelessness funding program, effective April 1, 2018; and, ii) up to $250,000 in funding under the allocation Federal Everyone Counts: the 2018 Coordinated Point-in-Time-Count in support of the Point-in-Time Count to be held in March and April 2018.

14.  City Council authorize the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, to enter into agreements to deliver projects in accordance with the terms and conditions of any amendments to the contribution agreement with Service Canada for the Homelessness Partnering Strategy.

The City of Toronto is the Consolidated Municipal Service Manager and Community Entity for homelessness services in Toronto, as designated by the provincial and federal governments. The City provides grant funding to community agencies that provide a range of housing and homelessness services through the Federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS), the Provincial Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) and the City of Toronto Homeless Initiatives Fund (HIF) and Poverty Reduction funding.

This report seeks authority to allocate this funding and enter into service agreements with community agencies that help people to increase housing stability:

Funding for the 2018 and 2019 allocations is subject to the approval of the 2018 and subsequent City Operating Budgets.