Your trusted building & hardware supply partner CHOICE 2022 The IFP - Halton Hills | Thursday, June 30, 2022 | 14 ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN $10,000 TO SPEND ON CASTLE ‘PRODUCTS AND SERVICES! RENOVATION CONTEST J 264 Main St. North Acton, Ontario L7J 1W9 Ph: 519-853-1970 ¢ Fax: 519-853-2542 f ORANGEVILLE David Nairn, Artistic Director Summer Arts Festival Join us at Mount Alverno Luxury Resorts for a festival of theatre, music, and art. There’s something for everyone. 519-942-3423 theatreorangeville.ca theifp.ca IBNEWS DISPLACED UKRAINIANS TO BENEFIT FROM HOUSING PROGRAM DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Halton Regional Coun- cil will invest up to $1 mil. ing to help displaced Ukrai- nians begin new lives here. cone voted unani- sly during their Wednesday, June 15 meet- ing to approve the funding, which staff expect will pro- vide about 50 Ukrainian gram 's end date on Aug. 31, o egional staff said the Halton Multicultural Coun- program. Besides being the only Halton-based _ settlement agency that has an active transitional housing pro- gram, HI uso has expe- ing program that was established for Syrian ees, "The overwhelming ma.- jority of individuals arriv- ing come with a plan. Ei- ther they have means of their own, they have con- nections to family, friends, networks in Canada or they have a new arrange- ment with a faith group or host family," said Alex Sar- chuk, Halton Region com- missioner for social and community services. rogram like ours in Halton will be targeted to those most in need. Those arriving with no means of their own, no connection. Hopefully, this program will allow us to divert them from our emergency shel- ter system, which is al- ready well utilized, and it will give them a leg up and head start for their j ‘journey port to council that like other Halton-based hous- ing subsidy programs, sub- sidies of up to 70 per cent of Graham Paine/Metroland Halton Region is investing $1 million in a transitional housing program for displaced Ukrainians. monthly rents will be made available initially with ap- proved program partici- pants required to pay a minimum 380 per cent of monthly rents on their own. He noted this would be adjusted as the program participant’ 'S income “Regional staff said the program would also quire formal leases to. ‘be signed between Ukraini- ans and Halton landlords to puta Ontario rental his- oy also requires that all housing units involved be legal, self-contained units (with their own bathroom, and kitchen), be size appro- priate for individual family composition and tenancy suitable. Once accepted into the program, HMC will quire participating house. holds to: + be in school, employ- ment and/or classes at least 20 hours a week (applies to adults 18 and over); * participate in settle- ment services, employ- ment counselling, skills de- velopment, financial liter- acy, English as a Second Language, orientation to Ontario and any other pro- grams/services deemed necessary by HMC to achieving long-term inde- pendence; + work with HMC to de- velop a detailed settlement plan; * agree to and partici- pate in ongoing monthly income verification and full financial position dis- closures; + meet with HMC settle- ment case workers regular- ly to discuss their progress. with a minimum weekly contact by phone, email or virtual "I want to thank stafffor developing this program so quickly...This truly is a re- long way toward helping these folks that need help continuing t to ar- nity," said Oakville ¢ Coun, Jeff Knoll. The $1 million for the pros comes from the region's allocation of the cy shelter and supportive housi Sarchuk said interested indir mcconnectionscom rn learn more about the pro- gram or contact Halton Re- gion by calling 311.