THUNDER BAY -- Less than 24 hours after the Thunder Bay Shelter House announced its mobile unit S.O.S. would temporarily cease operations on Apr. 1 due to lacking funding, it has launched a fundraising campaign to save the program.
An online donation campaign has been established through Canada Helps to raise $200,000 that would bridge the program through the spring and summer.
"It's a program that hasn't been fully funded since its inception so we've been supplementing that with our reserve funds and donated monies," said Shelter House executive director Gary Mack. "We can no longer afford to do that."
The SOS program is a transportation service that responds to the health needs of clients. Its two-staff teams also take Shelter House's services beyond its walls into the broader homeless ecosystem, providing food, blankets and harm reduction tools to those living outdoors.
In 2016, the program provided 4,923 rides and gave out 21,696 such amenities.
The fundraising campaign is officially designed to carry through to Sept. 1 but development officer Alexandra Calderon said Shelter House will reinstate the program as soon as the money is raised.
"What we're hoping for is to get city-wide, monthly donors so this is a stable source of funding, not just for this year but for every year. we want to increase our fundraising so we can keep this program going endlessly without having to stop it in the future," she said.
Calderon pointed out the SOS program can be delivered at a cost of $53 per client where transporting the same person through emergency medical services or police would cost upwards of $200.
She urged the commercial and emergency response sectors to recognize the value SOS contributes to their bottom line and pitch in to keep the program alive.
"We alleviate a lot of pressure on the EMS and on the police and I think this is a service that the business community along with the hospital and the police really need to get involved in financially and help support."
