Joint Services Committee Recommend United Counties Extend Funding to Cooperative Care Centre Until March 31st, 2026

Brockville – The United Counties of Leeds & Grenville Joint Services Committee voted on Tuesday morning, recommending that the Counties extend the Cooperative Care Centre’s funding until March 31st, 2026.

Speaking before the committee on Tuesday, asking for funding to continue for the Co-Operative Care Centre (CCC) were Laurie Hunter, from Called to Care Homeless Outreach, and Tony Barnes and Amber Gilmour from the Cooperative Care Centre.

“The center is seeing nearly eleven thousand visits, just this year and that the homelessness in our community is rapidly rising,” said Amber Gilmour, Director of the Co-Operative Care Centre, in her presentation to the committee. “We have seen a 32% increase in the past four months, with 32 new folks and 159 different individuals just in October. So on average, we are serving 42 people per day and 1299 per month.”

She went on to say the centre is operating at and beyond its current capacity.

The Homelessness Prevention Program (HPP), which is funding the CCC, through the United Counties, will end and revert to the new HART Hub.

After a lengthy discussion on the decision, a weighted recorded vote was held —an uncommon occurrence for the committee.

Each mayor gets one vote for every 1,000 residents of their community in a weighted vote, which sees the City of Brockville Mayor holding the largest weighted vote, with Westport holding the lightest.

The motion ultimately passed narrowly with a score of 47-40 out of a total of 87.

There was a discrepancy and confusion with the vote tally, which appeared that the vote was defeated, but Mayor Wren asked for clarification on the vote, and it was found that the math was incorrect by the counties’ clerk. Two members were not in attendance for the meeting, Augusta Mayor Jeff Shaver and Athens Mayor Herb Scott and the weighted vote tally was reached as if they were there.

After a review, the weighted vote was determined to have passed.

The committee recommendation will now go to the County Council for approval. But it is not a slam-dunk, as at the Counties Council, Brockville and Gananoque do not have a vote, and the vote may be a weight vote as well, along with whether Mayor Shaver and Mayor Scott are at the meeting, not knowing how they will vote.

Weighted Vote – 47-40

Voted Yes:

Brockville Mayor Wren, Westport Mayor Jones, Gananoque Mayor Beddows, North Grenville Mayor Peckford and Elizabethtown-Kitley Mayor Burrow.

Voted No:

Leeds & Thousand Islands Mayor Smith-Gatcke, Front of Yonge Mayor Haley, Edwardsburgh-Cardinal Mayor Deschamps, Prescott Mayor Shankar, Merrickville-Wolford Mayor Cameron and Rideau Lakes Mayor Hoogenboom.

During Tuesday’s committee meeting, a rally was held outside of the United Counties building in Brockville in support of keeping the Co-Operative Care Centre open. As well, there is an online petition to keep the Co-Operative Care Centre open: https://www.change.org/p/prevent-the-closure-of-brockville-s-essential-shelter

The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville decided in October to cut the shelter’s funding at the end of this year. The new HART Hub, led by Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Addictions and Mental Health (LLGAMH) and in partnership with more than 50 community organizations, is going to be partly funded by United Counties, along with funding from the Ontario government.

The Co-operative Care Centre is a 28-bed, overnight emergency shelter operated by the Brockville Housing Partnership, which provides vital services for vulnerable residents.