Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto says city council wants to prevent some of the issues faced by its most vulnerable citizens, rather than simply dealing with the aftermath, even if it means stepping outside of what’s normally seen as a local government responsibility.
Alto said in an interview Friday that the agreement with the non-profit organization SOLID is the first time the city has directly contracted with a single service provider for this kind of wide-ranging set of services “And the argument is that you actually spend less money in the end responding to it if you invest a little money upfront and trying to prevent it,” she said.
Victoria also provided a $300,000 grant to help buy the property, which sits on the boundary of three neighbourhoods.