City of Vancouver to spend $8 million on street-cleaning jobs for the homeless
The long-running Street Cleaning Grant program by the City of Vancouver is making a return this year, following City Council’s decision yesterday to approve $2.64 million in annual funding between 2024 and 2026.
Over three years, the program will carry a combined total cost of $7.92 million.
This is the first time funding is being provided over a three-year term, instead of an annual award requiring City Council approval each year. A three-year award term will improve the efficiency of the program and provide funding stability.
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The program, now nearly a quarter century old, provides low-barrier job opportunities to individuals experiencing homelessness and other low-income individuals, while also helping keep streets clean of garbage and harmful materials.
In 2023, with $2.459 million in funding, the program provided 72,300 work hours to individuals, the micro-cleaning in an area covering seven sq km within 22 business improvement associations (BIAs), the micro-cleaning of 25 permanent and pop-up plazas and 18 parklets, the collection of 35,400 bags of litter and over 100,000 needles, and funded nearly 20,000 feces removals within the downtown Vancouver area.
The work of these individuals complements, not replaces, the work of City crews, who mainly focus on emptying waste bins and using sweepers, flushers, and other vehicles. In contrast, the program supports micro-cleaning work using brooms, shovels, and wheeled carts.
The 2024-2026 annual funding level of $2.64 million is the highest amount yet for the program — not just up from 2023, but also an increase from $2.185 million in 2022, and from $1.62 million in 2019.
The seven organizations receiving the grant annually for three years are United We Can – Save Our Living Environment ($469,100), Coast Mental Health Foundation – Employment Services Program ($745,250), Mission Possible Compassionate Ministries Society – MP Maintenance ($1,211,900), Family Services of Greater Vancouver – Street Youth Job Action ($73,100), The Kettle Friendship Society – SEED Employment Program ($48,800), MakeWay Charitable Society – The Binners’ Project ($55,000), and Battered Women’s Support Services Association ($36,000).