Mayor Neil Ellis says Belleville is preparing to fund The Bridge homelessness and addictions resource centre as part of the 2024 budget.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Ellis announced that he and city council are exploring ways to provide $2,000,000 of funding to fast track preparations to open the new resource centre at 1 Alhambra Square, after a request for funding was not immediately responded to by the province.
Mayor Ellis announced his plans to include the cost of funding The Bridge in the upcoming budget at future budget deliberations. He says funding the project at the municipal level may necessitate a special tax levy, raising taxes or taking on additional long-term municipal debt and that while MPP Todd Smith is still trying to find funding, the municipality can’t afford to wait for provincial funds.
“The answer was basically, you’ll have to wait,” said Mayor Ellis. “As myself, as mayor of the city, it’s time to bring action. If we have to do it on ourselves or by ourselves, that’s what we will do.”
During the press conference, Mayor Ellis took aim at the provincial government, saying that municipal governments are left picking up the bill to solve problems that are provincial responsibility, highlighting the millions spent on the homelessness issue along with millions spent on doctor recruitment to address the shortage of doctors in the region.
The city had already invested $2,000,000 in purchasing and starting renovations on the former banquet hall property to prepare it for use as a resource centre, and requested the province match their investment after last week’s declaration of a state of emergency in the community relating to a string of overdoses that stretched emergency services to the limit.
The requested funds are needed to finish preparations for the property to open as a 24/7 resource centre for the local homeless population. Plans are in place to relocate homeless services to the property from Bridge Street United Church, as the current need for service has outgrown the space available at that location.
The Bridge is planned to open late in the fall or early winter this year if the funding is provided. If the funding request isn’t met, The Bridge is expected to open in 2025 or later.
The current funding only covers the work required to renovate the property, and does not include operational funding to support increased services for the homeless population. While plans are being made to offer medical care, addictions counselling, family and community-based supports, and other resources to help those suffering from addictions or mental health issues, these additional services are not yet funded and may not be available when the facility opens.
During the press conference, Belleville Police Chief Mike Callaghan said that police had been hard at work in an effort to stop the flow of drugs into the community. Police have made numerous arrests related to illegal drugs, including one that resulted from a four-year investigation.
Police Chief Mike Callaghan advocated for longer sentences for drug offenses, saying that short sentences are being seen as “the cost of doing business” to dealers.
Chief Callaghan again stressed that the population suffering addictions needed more support than they are receiving currently.
“At the end of the day, nobody wakes up one day and says, I want to be homeless, I want to be a drug addict, I want to suffer from mental health addictions,” said Chef Callaghan. “I think as a civilized community, we need to ensure that we have support mechanisms for these individuals.”
The provincial government announced $216,000 in one-time funding on Thursday, which went to local non-profits providing support to the homeless population and was unrelated to the municipality’s request for assistance.
