| Who will pay for homeless shelter? Editorial - Saturday, May 26, 2007 @ 16:00 The strong moral support expressed by government officials for a permanent homeless shelter in Sarnia was encouraging, but the question of who will pay for it remains sketchy. City, county provincial and federal representatives were on hand Thursday when the wraps came off plans for a 40-bed complex to provide both emergency homeless services and longer-term transitional housing. The need for such a facility is self-evident. Doubters need only look at the tremendous job done by volunteers at River City Vineyard, who grew tired of waiting for officialdom to act and opened a temporary shelter on Mitton Street last fall. But a permanent shelter with professional staff and additional services won't come cheap. The Young Professionals Group has kicked off a capital campaign to help build new or buy an existing building. We encourage everyone to support it. But startup capital is a one-shot affair. The annual operational costs estimated at $400,000 are usually the deal-breaker in such ventures. MP Pat Davidson said she has brought the proposal to Monte Solberg, federal Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. And MPP Caroline Di Cocco said she looks forward to assisting in any way she can. But we didn't hear any firm commitments there. The Inn of the Good Shepherd receives some homelessness funding already and will presumably redirect part of it. But where the rest will come from is anybody's guess. Sarnia needs a permanent homeless shelter. And the community seems to support the concept. Hopefully, as this proposal takes shape, the dollars and cents will also fall into line. Sir: Re: "The pill killing off fish: study" (The Observer, May 22, 2007) It may be of interest to your readers to learn that the head researcher and spokesperson regarding the study on female sex hormones in lakes and rivers, Dr. Karen Kidd, was born and raised in Sarnia. She is a graduate of Northern Collegiate and her parents, Diane and George Werezak, still live here. Sarnians have reason to be proud to see "one of ours" doing important research in environmental matters of consequence for our society. Walter F. Petryschuk (a family friend) |
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