While those in charge of the warming centre at 199 Larch Street do not wish to comment on a recent Sudbury.com story about the conditions there, the outreach workers who have interacted with the centre are backing up the claims of staffing issues, and the potential for unsafe situations for both staff and guests.
Earlier this month, Sudbury.com visited the warming centre, which is located in a lower level of Tom Davies Square (and funded by the city while being operated by the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth, a.k.a SACY). Several sources in the outreach community shared their concerns with us that the facility had problems.
In particular, we were told of issues with staffing, cleanliness and access to Narcan (a medication that stops an opioid overdose), issues that were putting the safety of centre staff and clients at risk.
After efforts to arrange a visit didn’t pan out (several messages went unreturned), this reporter visited the centre unannounced at night. Our sources said the warming centre was a far different place once the sun went down.
You can read about that visit here. In short, what Sudbury.com witnessed during our visit supported what our sources said. Now, we’ve gone back to those sources to share more of what they’ve seen at the SACY-operated warming centre.
Two outreach workers chose to be on record while several others spoke on the condition Sudbury.com would not print their names to protect their jobs.
All those interviewed reiterated the need for a warming shelter, and a low-barrier one at that, which is the type of warming centre currently in operation. Those same outreach workers said there was a great need for support from government, both municipal and provincial, to ensure the centre has the resources it needs to operate safely.
Marie Pollock, outreach worker and peer advocate with Réseau Access and the Sex Workers Advisory Network of Sudbury, told me the staff of SACY work tirelessly without much recognition and without much support. Pollack said SACY staff are doing the best they can with the resources they have, especially with the rise of COVID-19 and the limits that it has placed on those resources.
“As long as we have no affordable housing and no overdose prevention site, the warming centre is able to keep as many people together as possible, keeping people alive.”
She said the warming centre is focused on harm reduction, and is welcoming “especially for those that have been permanently banned from 200 Larch.” Pollack is referring to the Off the Street Shelter, just across the street from the warming centre.
But when it comes to staffing, several outreach workers interviewed spoke of high turnover and staff that are often new to the job, untrained and insufficient in numbers.
“(The staff) they're very frustrated, they want to do more, their hearts are in the right place, but they're just not given the tools to do what they need to do,” said a Sudbury outreach worker who not only volunteers with several organizations and works in the field, but interacts frequently with the warming centre staff and guests. They wish to hide their identity to protect their work and relationships.
The person described good intentions, but poor execution.
“It’s super disorganized and there's a lack of leadership,” they told Sudbury.com. “No one's ever aware of what's really going on. There's always just something that's out of place or someone can't find something or we're bringing them supplies because they've run out of something.
“Overall, I would say it just seems like they're lacking some solid leadership.”
There have been staff shortages before. On Dec.19, a staff shortage caused the closure of the warming centre, and a city bus was brought in to keep people warm overnight.
A Facebook post by local outreach group the Go-Give Project detailed staffing issues on the night of Jan. 10, which the post stated was a cold one: -35.
“The night began with the 199 Larch Street Warming Centre having 17 individuals over-capacity and simply not enough staff. A total of 37 individuals inside the premises,” stated the post.
“By 1 a.m. these staffing issues had been resolved, however the building capacity still remained consistent at an average of 32 people. We remained here due to lack of management until 2 a.m.”
The centre is also frequently without necessary supplies; specifically, Narcan, a necessity when dealing with a group of people with a higher-than-average prevalence of opioid use.
The outreach workers interviewed said the best chance of mitigating overdoses is specific training and access to Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan. In addition, overdose training is required as someone can appear to be having an overdose when they are not, and even when someone is and does require treatment, it can be a difficult situation to handle.
Not only are those who receive the Narcan ripped from their opioid-induced high, leaving them not only completely sober but often open to the withdrawal symptoms, often and especially if the overdose is misdiagnosed, those who receive the medication are displeased to then have to secure more drugs to avoid the painful withdrawal symptoms.
The life-saving medication is required, but so is the ability to properly diagnose issues and handle unexpected reactions.
“Over the holidays, they (overnight staff at the warming centre) contacted me personally for Narcan because they didn't have enough of a supply,” said the outreach worker. “They were down to two and they had told me they had already had four (people) that they had to Narcan that day. So we were able to round them up about 30.”
Each package of Narcan includes two doses, but there are times when more doses are required for one person, depending on the severity of the overdose.
Shannon Scodnick of the Go-Give Project agreed.
“The last time I was there, there was a potential overdose in the bathroom. There were two security guards there, I don't know whether they were trained in Narcan or not, but it didn't seem as though they were,” she said.
The warming centre is low-barrier, meaning that while there is no drug use permitted in the building, having used drugs recently does not restrict a person’s access. It’s an important aspect of the warming centre, as it is designed to help the vulnerable population, rather than judge them or prevent them from seeking safety and services.
However, “it took a while to just find available Narcan, which should be at a low-barrier shelter, available everywhere and easily accessible,” said Scodnick. “It shouldn't have taken that long to find. So, yeah, I see a lot of potential for something very negative to happen there.”
There is also an ease of entry to the facility, with little in the way of safety screening at the door, Sudbury.com was told, a fact that is a cause for concern, an outreach worker interviewed said.
“I guarantee you each and every one of those individuals has a weapon on them when they go in there. I can almost promise you that,” they said, acknowledging that the carrying of weapons is not uncommon for people living on the street. “They're not searched, whether it's just a knife of some sort or some type of crowbar, they've got something they all need to protect themselves out there. I mean, they're getting robbed and beaten every day.”
Another safety issue comes with the potential of a COVID outbreak and the need for constant sanitizing.
“I've seen sprayed sanitizer,” said Scodnick, “but other than that, everyone seems to kind of be everywhere, I don't really see any enforcing of rules or mask-wearing in terms of protocols. I haven't seen anything being enforced, but I just don't even think they had the capacity to enforce the rules and do all of that all the time.”
Scodnick said that while there are capacity limits in place at the warming centre — it is meant for 32 people — there were in excess of that on the night Sudbury.com visited, and on several other occasions, said both Scodnick and the outreach worker. The lack of space is an issue, they said, considering how many people are homeless in the city core. They both stated in no way should people be turned away — it’s a humanitarian issue after all — but the warming centre at the moment doesn’t have enough space for the number of people who need it.
Everyone Sudbury.com spoke to was clear: the warming centre should not be shut down; the service it provides meets a dire and emergent need, but the centre itself is definitely in crisis.
“I think it's a situation that needs to be brought to light,” said Scodnick. “And it's not to put blame on anyone in particular, but no one's willing to admit fault, or admit that things need to change, or that, maybe the decisions they made in the past just aren't working anymore. So it just kind of gets ignored and swept under the rug, but then nothing ever gets fixed.
“It's literally in the middle of the city, in a city building, and this is still going on. It's so chaotic there.”
The outreach worker agrees.
“There's prospects that will help the shelter in the future, but they definitely need a better management system to get their roots in. Because if they don't, they're going to lose it, somebody is going to die, that place is going to burn down or something.”
Sudbury.com reached out to those who fund and operate the warming centre, SACY and the City of Greater Sudbury, as well as Public Health Sudbury and Districts and Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier requesting interviews, but all requests were denied. You can find that story here.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com. She covers the diverse communities of Sudbury, especially the vulnerable or marginalized, including the Black, Indigenous, newcomer and Francophone communities, as well as 2SLGBTQ+ and issues of the downtown core.
