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City homeless shelters kept busy as severe cold lingers

Cold snap means record month for extreme cold weather alerts
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Through the month of December 2016, the Elgin Street Mission opened its warming station 18 times. (Supplied)

Through the month of December 2016, the Elgin Street Mission opened its warming station 18 times.

The Elgin Street Mission becomes an emergency warming centre and extends its regular hours of operation by remaining open 24 hours during an extreme cold weather alert. As part of its emergency response, they will also provide a hot meal at night.

In contrast, the Elgin Street Mission opened its emergency warming centre services only once in December 2016.

“We're already into our fifth day in 2018, and it's only Jan. 5, so that tells you how cold it has been,” said Cheryl Perreault, secretary for the Elgin Street Mission. “It's my third winter here, and 2017 was the first time we had to open the warming centre in the month of November.”

That was Nov. 9, which according to Environment Canada, set a record at -16.8 C.

Between 25 and 39 people come and go from the warming centre, making trips between there and the downtown emergency shelter, operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association.

And, despite the increase in days the mission is open to help keep residents warm, there is no worry about running out of food for them, said Perreault.

“Sudbury has been very generous, and our shelves, fridges and freezers are full,” she said.

Krista MacDonald, health promotions co-ordinator for the CMHA, said the Emergency Off the Street Shelter on Larch Street has definitely been busier with the onset of the extreme conditions. The shelter can accommodate 45 people on a given night, and there have been about 35 people per night staying there over the last few weeks.

“There's still room for people out on the streets who don't have access to shelter, or for those living in unsuitable apartments with no heat,” MacDonald said.

The CMHA-run shelter welcomes individuals who might be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, although they can't bring those items into the facility, MacDonald said.

“For many, this is a last resort for them to stay here,” she said.

The shelter has revamped its hours, as well, closing at 8 a.m. to coincide with the opening of the Elgin Street Mission, MacDonald said.

“This way, people aren't out in the cold as long.”

There are other shelters in Sudbury as well, such as The Salvation Army's men's hostel and Cedar Place, a homeless shelter for women and children.

L'Association Des Jeunes De La Rue also has its 16-bed Foyer Notre Dame shelter that caters to youth. It's also responsible for issuing the extreme cold weather alerts, and offers a number of services to help keep people off the streets when it gets too cold at night. Alerts are issued when the temperature drops below -15 degrees C, -20 C with a windchill, or when Environment Canada issues a storm watch or weather warning.

Executive director Lise Senecal said December set a record for the number of alerts issued — at 18 — since her organization took over the service.

L'Association Des Jeunes De La Rue assisted 1,374 people over the 18 nights at the Elgin Street Mission, Senecal said.

“Our busiest month for alerts is usually February,” she said. “Last year, we had three weeks in February where we issued alerts.”

Staff provided more than 800 rides to people in need, as well as clothing and blankets, and the outreach program staff stopped more than 100 times to check on people on the streets throughout the night.

The association has a vehicle that operates 12 hours at a time — from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. — through the downtown, checking to see if there are people on the streets in need of help.
 


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Arron Pickard

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