PICTOU
A local group wanting to open a permanent homeless shelter has to provide Pictou council with a more concrete operating plan before the town will grant it funding.
Pictou Mayor Jim Ryan said the board of directors for Viola’s Place Society recently asked all local municipal units for funding to help with the purchase of the former Life Center Church, but Pictou council says it won’t commit the money for capital until it sees a more detailed operating budget.
“To contribute towards the capital is one thing, but I am not overly comfortable with the operating plan despite the importance of this or the need for the service,” said Pictou Mayor Jim Ryan during Monday’s committee of the whole meeting.
The funding request for the town comes in at about $3,333 and would be strictly designated to the capital purchase of the Life Shelter church. The Town of New Glasgow and the Municipality of Pictou County were asked to provide $15,000 between the two of them.
New Glasgow approved a contribution of $7,500 to Viola’s Place pending the results of an appraisal of the old Life Center Church where the shelter was located, a viable operating plan, with a three- to five-year projection – and confirmation of funding from other municipalities asked for support by the shelter’s board, and from the federal government.
The board overseeing operations of the temporary shelter is purchasing the former Life Center Church, which once hosted a homeless shelter before it closed in 2016. The board currently operates a temporary shelter out of First Baptist Church on East River Road but this will close when a new shelter is permanently opened.
The goal is for the board of directors is to purchase the building for $60,000, which is due in April 2018. The new shelter will be named the Viola’s Place Society after Viola Desmond, a Halifax businesswoman who took a stand against racial segregation in 1946 when she refused to move to an area designated for blacks at a New Glasgow movie theatre.
Ryan said municipalities will not be the owner of the proposed homeless shelter building but it is important that councils do what they can to make sure the service will be available for years to come.
This can be done, he said, by making sure it has a solid operating plan in place.
“The idea behind it sounds good but we want to know more about the game plan and what the operations will look like,” said Coun. Eric Daley.
Ryan said he expects that Viola’s Place Society will come back to mayors and the warden with more details on financing its operations.
Town staff said there might also be new federal funding initiatives available in 2018 that will help the society reach its fundraising goals.
“I would like us to be more comfortable with the plan before contributing money,” said Ryan.
