The Tree of Peace Friendship Centre is expected to receive $302,697 from the City of Yellowknife to run a new program addressing homelessness.
Earlier this month, the city’s governance and priorities committee approved a recommendation for the funding. It still needs to be signed off by council, but Garett Cochrane, chair of the Community Advisory Board on Homelessness, says that’s just procedural.
Once the city has cut the cheque, programming could start by the end of September.
“If you look around on the streets, we are dealing with people here. We’re not dealing with things in theory,” said Cochrane. “We can’t just brush them off away and hope the problem just solves itself.”