Wapiti Community Support Faces Funding Cuts

0:00The WAPT Community Support Association just lost $1.4 million in provincial funding, hitting their operations hard and grand. Prairie. City Council stepped up Monday night, directing the mayor to send a letter back in the group and requesting a 60-day extension on the cuts to buy. Sometime. This shortfall means over a dozen staffers could lose their jobs, with key programs like case management shutting down and the foundations. Transitional housing closing its doors on April 23rd. Their emergency shelters are already running at 113% capacity, and without that cash, which covered 33% of its, needs things could get even tighter. Execs there are frustrated, warning it will spike street disorder like the big encampments back in 2018 and 2019. One resident, Trevor Tritis, credits foundations for his recovery from long-term addiction, calling spots like this life changes for folks rebuilding. Their lives. The province pushes back, saying it was just the end of a six-month pilot program.

1:01With no shelter funding cuts overall, they're tossing in $100,000 transitional aid and $8 million this year for Grand Prairie's homelessness fight. Still, agency leaders called the 30-day notice abrupt after years of scaling up together. Council agreed unanimously on the letter and extension push, hoping for smoother winddown. With 85% of their budget from the province, this fights far from over, but local support might just keep some lights on a bit longer. This has been Canada News Today, powered by AI.