THUNDER BAY – The Salvation Army is one step closer towards bringing their planned Journey to Life Centre to reality.
The organization was successful Monday night in its request to Thunder Bay city council for $500,000 towards the replacement of their North Cumberland Street men’s shelter.
Maj. Lori Mitchell said the new facility will provide opportunities for those involved in the program to move towards independence.
“Right now, we have a lot of clients who have cycled because of the root issues of homelessness,” Mitchell said following the vote by council.
“Homelessness is more than just not having a home. By being able to work with each of them individually, by being able to have proper program space and teaching space, then we’ll be able to really work with them to move them forward in life so they’re not just going through the same cycle of poverty and homelessness they’ve been doing for a number of years.”
Mitchell said the Journey to Life program would be a combination of education, job skills, life skills and living skills.
The new building would have the 20 apartment style units for those in the Journey to Life program as well as 20 emergency shelter beds. The current shelter was built for 19 but has overflow capacity to take in 42.
“We’re hoping that because we’ll also have the Journey to Life program that will reduce our need for the overflow,” Mitchell said. “Our vision is that some of the men who are currently in the shelter could easily move into our Journey to Life program. The numbers aren’t changing as much as the capacity of what we’re doing with those numbers. That’s really what’s changing.”
The approval from the city brings the total amount of committed money to nearly $8 million. The national and regional headquarters of The Salvation Army have combined to contribute $5.75 million while the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board has pledged $1.3 million.
Mitchell said the final cost of the project has not yet been determined, though it is expected to be in the range of $9 million and $11 million.
The Salvation Army is also looking to secure funding from the province through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and Ontario Trillium Fund as well as the federal government through FedNor.
In addition to the $500,000, which will be allocated from the Renew Thunder Bay reserve fund, council also voted to spare the organization from nearly $85,000 in landfill tipping fees and building permit fees.
“I think it’s appropriate, if we look at the amount of money that The Salvation Army is bringing in from out of town that it’s a significant investment in the community,” Coun. Iain Angus said. “I think we should respond in kind.”
