An Aboriginal youth assumes traditional peaceful pose in front of a mural at a downtown youth drop-in renovated with HPS funds.
Request For Proposals for Youth Drop-in Services
for youth in Downtown West Toronto
This RFP will be of interest to agencies with demonstrated experience serving youth with complex needs in a drop-in setting. Funding for the period April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013 is provided by the Homelessness Partnership Initiative. See section 5 of the HPS Proposal Requirements document for organizational and project eligibility requirements.The closing date for proposals is Monday, February 6, 2012.
There will be an information session for this RFP on Friday January 13, 2012 at 2 p.m. in room 303, Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Toronto. Please register in advance if you are planning to attend the information session.
To register for the information session or for further information, please contact Sally Bryant at 416-397-4197 or sbryant@toronto.ca
Ottawa's investment in ending homelessness in Toronto
The Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) is a federal program to prevent and reduce homelessness. Since 2000, federal investments have helped Toronto to build new affordable housing, to offer services that support people moving from the streets into their own homes, help homeless people get the ID they need for social assistance and housing, and provide job coaching and pre-employment skills training so that vulnerable people can gain a foothold in the working world.
New agreement in place
The City of Toronto has signed a $51.9 million, three-year agreement with the federal government (April 1, 2011 through to March 31, 2014). Services provided by community agencies using HPS funding that ended March 31, 2011 have been extended for one year with no loss in service.
Call for competitive proposals
A plan is under development to invest the April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2014 portion of the funding in line with the proposed Community Plan for investment as approved by Council in August 2010. A competitive call for proposals will be public on this website in the coming months. Agencies wishing to ensure they receive direct communication about this can call 416-338-1135 (email: nbaptis@toronto.ca).
Toronto HPS by the numbers 2007-2011
Federal investment is crucial for Toronto: in 2010 it accounted for more than 40% of all spending on homelessness services, excluding emergency shelters and social housing.
- $69.2 million invested by the federal government in Toronto programming for homeless and vulnerably housed people, about the same on an annual basis as the 2011-2014 agreement
- 400 community projects
- 42,000 homeless and vulnerable people served
- 68 new units of transitional/supportive housing
- 128 capital improvements to community faciltiies
- 15 Aboriginal projects received $9 million in capital investment.
See a recent presentation reviewing HPS investments in Toronto and details of the outcomes that resulted. The August 2010 staff report to Toronto City Council outlines the HPS program, including funding amounts and recent program successes.
20% for Aboriginal Projects
About 20% of homeless people in Toronto self-identify as Aboriginal, far higher than the representation in the general population. As directed by the Community Plan and by Council, 20% of the HPS spending is allocated to Aboriginal agencies for initiatives and services targeted at ending homelessness among aboriginal people. Learn more
Since March 2007, $12.14 million has been invested in Aboriginal programs that provide intensive supports to Aboriginal clients and build agency capacity to meet client needs,as well as a number of capital project, including:
- a 60-bed shelter for Aboriginal men
- a drop-in centre for Aboriginal women and their children
- 20 new supportive housing units for Aboriginal families
- a 12-bed transitional hostel and a new transitional home for Aboriginal male youth, and
- improvements to two Aboriginal housing developments.
