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Media
advisory
April 13, 2004
Federal government re-announces
homeless money
promised 14 months ago as Out of Cold beds closed;
Homeless won’t be any less
homeless with no money for affordable housing
The federal government is re-announcing on
Wednesday funding for homeless programs that was promised fourteen months
ago – and the money is finally being delivered just as homeless people are
bracing for the loss of shelter beds in the Out of the Cold program.
“We’re glad the
federal government is finally delivering on money they promised in
February of 2003,” says Cathy Crowe, street nurse and Steering Committee
member of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee. “But the homeless
disaster is continuing to take a devastating toll on the streets of our
city. And with the closing of the Out of the Cold program this week, the
desperate conditions will get even worse. We’ll be losing beds and more
homeless people may be forced outside.”
“The federal dollars
may make some homeless people more comfortable, but it won’t make them any
less homeless,” says Michael Shapcott, TDRC’s Research Co-ordinator.
“There is no new money for affordable housing and a total logjam around
housing funding that was promised in the fall of the year 2000.”
For more information, contact TDRC
at tdrc@tdrc.net
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