The mayor’s homelessness task force is seeing success with the day pay program.
The program is a partnership between the task force and ANKORS and provides wages and work opportunities for unhoused residents.
“It’s providing employment skills, getting people back into the workforce and providing them a way to earn an income that decreases the need for them to participate in crime,” said social development coordinator Marcel Germer.
She says the program has allowed them to build better relationships and provide better help for unhoused people.
“We had one individual who worked with us all summer long and did amazing work up at the site,” she said.
“Unfortunately he had a slip back into addiction, but because we had built that relationship with the day pay and working with him, we were able to call his family in Alberta and they came and got him. Now he is back with his family and getting well.”
And some participants in the day pay program are shining.
“The gentleman who’s now working up at the food bank is somebody living out there who has created a relationship with ANKORS and with the outreach teams and now he’s working there,” Germer added.
“He’s doing a great job and they’re actually going to have him training some of the other volunteers.”
The program is still in its early stages and Germer says the plan is to expand it to local businesses.
“We are working with businesses in town to hire the people once we have some stability in that program,” she said.
“We have to know the people enough to know they can go out and work in different environments.”
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