Windsor Public Library receives government grant

By Allanah Wills

The Windsor Public Library is receiving $200,000 in funding from the Ontario government in hopes of making their services more accessible to people living in homelessness and poverty.

The funding is part of the Ontario Libraries Capacity Fund, which aims to improve library services for Ontarians. Over the next three years, $10 million will be invested to libraries across the province.

The Library Hubs Meeting Community Needs Project is designed to create library tools that will engage Windsorites in new ways and create hub services for the homeless. The hubs will add to community life by providing central gathering points for health and social services and resources as well as providing cultural and recreational information spaces for residents. Windsor is one of 10 libraries across the province currently taking part in the project.

“The current system serving these high-risk populations is funded by many different organizations and agencies and is very difficult to navigate,” said WPL CEO Kitty Pope in a press release. “The LHMCN project is an opportunity to streamline the process, eliminate some of the confusion and make it easier to find the information and services required.”

According to Pathway to Potential, around 74,000 people in Windsor currently live in poverty.

By creating the community hubs anyone living in poverty or on the streets will be able to come in and access food, income and health services they might not normally know how or where to access.

Christine Wilson-Furlonger, administrator of Street Help, supports the project but hopes the money is used wisely.

“If we’re going to use that money and the library would stay open all night I would say ‘fantastic,’” said Wilson-Furlonger “This is a wonderful, heated and safe environment and people could be in there 24 hours a day. We need realistic programs for the homeless so take that $200,000 and make sure that you’re really trying to help those who are worst off.”

The project is expected to begin this summer and wrap up at the end of 2017.