$600,000 program requires support from province and city.

THUNDER BAY —The future of a $600,000 program that provides its clients with a glass of wine every 90 minutes depends once again on funding approvals from the Ontario government and Thunder Bay city council.

Current funding for the Kwae Kii Win managed alcohol program operated by Shelter House on George Street in Thunder Bay expires at the end of March.

As it is required to do every year, management of the homeless shelter has applied for operating grants from both levels of government.

The province and the city are closely scrutinizing their spending priorities, but the executive-director at Shelter House, Michelle Jordan, says she remains hopeful the money will come through.

"We're always in this position. It would be nice to get a commitment longer than one year, but unfortunately that's where we're at right now," Jordan told Tbnewswatch.

She pegs the annual cost of the managed alcohol program, now in its seventh year, at $600,000.

That pays for operating the building that houses the service, staff salaries, and the food and wine that clients consume.

The facility, which has 15 beds, accommodated about 25 individuals last year.

"The people live there. It's a home for them. Sometimes they go in for a few months, then end up going out of the program and into transitional housing or what not. Or they may go back to their home communities," Jordan explained.

She said clients cover some of the operating expenses by paying rent.

Jordan agrees with other proponents of managed alcohol programs who have said they improve the quality of life of their recipients—by providing housing and health care—while simultaneously benefiting communities as a whole.

"It cuts down emergency room visits for these very ill clients. They have a lot of health issues. It cuts down on EMS visits to the shelter. And it gives them less police contact because they have a home, they have place to be," she said.

For every dollar that's spent on the program, Jordan added, a dollar is saved through reduced intervention by emergency services.

Shelter House is counting on that rationale persuading the provincial and civic decision-makers to provide another year of funding.

In the past year, it's received $277,000 from the province and $70,000 from the city. Rent from clients generates about $118,000, leaving a shortfall of $150,000.

Jordan said Shelter House is still in discussions with the Local Health Integration Network, the provincial agency that oversees regional health care spending.

"We should know soon whether the funding will go ahead," she said. "We're having good conversations with them. Things look very promising."

The funding request to the city is expected to be determined during city council's current round of budget deliberations.