Most of the round table discussions that happen are all free to any funder. A considerable amount of my time is spent at round tables, and none of that is compensated directly, so that's an indirect cost our organizations are expected to absorb. But it is incredibly beneficial to do that, to make sure there's no duplication, to make sure we are building better partnership on that full continuum, whether it is just referral or collaboration, and nationally I think the teleconferences that have been provided by HPS have been very good. Those are symposiums that are conferenced in for us to gain information. The most recent one, I think, was fundraising for the non-profit, and I had a friend in Winnipeg who spoke at that, but that was shared.
I think there is something to be said for funding national round tables, so I am part of the Canadian Coalition of Large Multi-Service Shelters, which was started out of Old Brewery and Welcome Hall. Maison du Père, I think, is also involved in Quebec. But funding a get-together of our group is a relatively minimal expense that would produce a very high return. The last time we were able to gather previous to a conference--and that was supported by an employment initiative of the federal government--to gather information around that. But I think doing some of that direct funding face to face.... That coalition is the largest emergency men's shelter in the country, and when we get together to share best practices and start to talk about standards, governance.... Those things would really pay big dividends, but again, it would take some time. Partnership is an investment that takes time, but it does pay big dividends.