The closure of the YWCA Lethbridge and District’s women’s permanent supportive housing program comes at a time of change for the city’s organizations providing housing services. As of April 1, Lethbridge Housing Authority will be in charge of allocating funding to service providers, rather than the City of Lethbridge.
Chief administrative officer of the housing authority, Robin James, said she believes the new model will be more successful in the city.
“We are taking the bull by the horns, for lack of a better term, to replace these 24 beds so that the loss is very brief and intermittent,” she said. “We do have some strong permanent supportive housing providers that are in our community that are very interested in getting started right away and we also have some supportive housing providers that currently don’t provide the service within our city but are very interested in providing it in our city.”
The YWCA Women’s Residency program provides 24 supportive housing units and CEO Jill Young said the organization is working to transition clients to new housing when it closes on March 31.
“There are various different individuals that may be great candidates for independent living, out in market housing, and there are other individuals that require additional support,” Young said. “We are working with the various different organizations for each individual to see what is best for them.”
Young said the decision not to renew the contract for the program was made based on multiple factors, including increasing costs and complex needs of individuals. Most of the financial challenges, she said, come from the loss of COVID-19 specific funding coming at the same time as increased operating costs.
“The primary reason for us in making this conclusion and decision is ultimately the long term sustainability of the YWCA as an organization and the financial impacts and constraints that the funding is providing for this program,” Young said.
Funding is still available from the province for the 24 housing units, according to James. She said the housing authority is putting out a request for proposal this week to recruit and expand supportive housing in the city. The closure at the YWCA is a short term challenge, but James said she and her organization plan to make the units available again as soon as possible.
Currently the Lethbridge Housing Authority only provides independent living facilities, but James said the change in the way funding is allocated will help ensure people get the housing they need.
“We are excited to take it on, we are excited to be able to start advocating for individuals in our community that need to have a voice. I think it’s important to recognize, when the city is the homeless provider, it is really difficult for a homeless person to come into the City of Lethbridge and say, ‘hi I am homeless will you help me?’ Those services aren’t available through the city,” she said. “Not only can we oversee the funding model, but we can also provide services within the housing continuum and access services within the housing continuum.”
With the program closure at the YWCA comes job losses, around 20, according to Young.
“Many of them have had that notice and we unfortunately do not have positions for them at the YWCA after March 31st. Unfortunately, just due to our non-profit model, we don’t have the opportunity to continue to staff positions that are not necessarily responding to a program that we no longer have anymore,” Young said. She added funding for staff at the organization is tied to specific programs.
Young said though the program is not sustainable for the YWCA, Lethbridge Housing being in charge of funding creates new opportunities for supportive living in the community.
“The opportunity there is to really take a new approach to our housing continuum in the municipality and it’s a great opportunity to open up those conversations and to evaluate what we have been doing previously and how we can better improve the system going forward,” Young said. “I am really encouraged by the conversations that are beginning to happen and how we can improve the system as Lethbridge as a whole grows.”
None the of the other programs provided by the YWCA are affected by the closure. It will continue to offer support for women and families fleeing domestic violence through its Harbour House and it will also continue to support youth at its Hestia Homes program.