| Downtown Mission | The Downtown Mission provides a range of additional services, including meals and bagged lunches, Phoenix recovery (substance use treatment program), social activities, health care navigation, assistance with applying for income assistance, ID clinic, income tax clinic, self-administered medication program, Enterprise (work re-entry) program, dental centre, fitness centre, distress centre, text crisis line. They also provide the following for youth at the Windsor Youth Centre: youth drop-in, youth outreach, parenting groups, connections with youth staying at the Southwest Detention Centre, relapse prevention, food program. |
Funding and Costs
Pre-Pandemic Funding
The City’s 2019 - 2020 “core” funding budget for shelter services at the Welcome Centre and Salvation Army, which includes a total of 36 shelter beds and 10 motel rooms, was approximately $1,400,000. Additional costs for overflow motel rooms and food paid out directly to motel / food vendors was budgeted at approximately $546,000 in 2019 – 2020 but actual expenditures were over $727,000.
The funding provided per bed/room varies by shelter service provider/client group. The Salvation Army received $23,629 per bed/year for its men’s shelter beds. The Welcome Centre receives $42,355/bed per year for its women’s shelter beds. One of the key reasons for the higher funding per bed is the small bed capacity and therefore a higher operating cost per bed. Another reason is that Welcome Centre receives funding for housing support. Housing supports for clients of the Salvation Army are funded separately. The motels cost approximately $27,475/room per year (average of 3.4 people per room). Food costs for people in motel rooms is budgeted at a cost of $16.50 per day per person at the primary motel which has onsite meal services and $20 per adult and $15 per child at other motels which provide restaurant gift cards to clients.
2019 - 2020 Funding for Salvation Army and Welcome Centre
| Beds | Total | Per Bed/Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salvation Army* | 26 | $614,345 | $23,629 |
| Welcome Centre – Women’s Shelter | 12 | $508,258 | $42,355 |
| Welcome Centre – for 10 motel* rooms | 10 | $274,752** | $27,475 room |
| Total- Core Budget (incl. 10 motel rooms) Additional Motel Rooms & Food-Budget* | $1,397,355 $545,496*** | ||
| Total- Budget Additional Motel Rooms & Food beyond Budgeted Amount* | $1,942,851 $181,746 | ||
| Total | $2,124,597 | ||
*Housing Information Services’ Housing Worker in Salvation Army and Family Shelter funded separately
**This cost is for rooms only and does not include food
***This includes costs for all of the food in motels, including the 10 motel rooms in the core budget