EDITORIAL: City should fund SOS

Supporting Shelter House’s Street Outreach Program makes a lot of sense.

On Monday, council gave the homeless shelter $50,000 to keep the program running. That’s on top of $50,000 and a van given to the program by the District Social Services Administration Board.

Last year the program, which takes intoxicated people to the hospital when needed, rather than tying up valuable police and EMS services, had nearly 1,000 calls by the time the program wound down in April.

Calls increased by 25 per cent after the program ended, police say. EMS chief Norm Gale says it’s likely call growth on their end is slower than it would be without SOS in place.

It’s time for council to consider funding this program year-round, a notion that they’ve been leery to undertake.

Yes, it will cost money. Ideally, we’d find a solution for those with addiction issues.

But that perfect world doesn’t exist. With cries from many corners that crime is out of control in Thunder?Bay, freeing up police resources could have a dramatic effect on crime rates in the city.

A one-year pilot project, with council reserving the right to withdraw funding, would be a prudent way to find out if the program really works and crime rates reduce. Spend the money.