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The lights are dimmed in a boardroom at Shepherds of Good Hope, where about a dozen mattresses are scattered around the room.
It’s 9:30 a.m. on Thursday and five women who slept here the night before are still in bed. Others come and go from the washroom down the hall or head outside for a smoke. The room is so muggy that fans have been brought in to help push the dry air around. An artificial Christmas tree stands watch in the corner.
As many as 20 women have to share this room some nights.
“It’s very crowded,” admitted Caroline Cox, the senior manager of transitional shelter services.
The room became a make-shift dormitory following a Dec. 21 fire that caused significant damage to the 49-bed transitional shelter on the ground floor.
The special facility is normally reserved for housing people when all the other emergency shelters are full. It is also the only option for men and women who have been barred from other shelters, have significant mental health or addiction issues, or have been dropped off by police or paramedics.
Because it’s been closed for two weeks while crews repair the damage, women have been relocated to the boardroom, while men have either gone to other shelters or filled up the Shepherds’ overflow dormitory.
“We’ve been taking any common room we could and putting mats down,” Cox said, adding she hopes the regular space will be up and running soon.
The fire and deep freeze that have gripped the National Capital Region — which prompted Ottawa Public Health to issue a frostbite warning Thursday “until further notice” — have both added wrinkles to an already challenging time of year for homeless shelters.
But unlike Toronto, where an unprecedented demand on the city’s homeless shelter system led to the opening of temporary winter-respite sites, there are no such plans to open additional facilities in Ottawa.
Inside the Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa Thursday Jan 4, 2018.
Night after night, shelters here are stretched to capacity and often beyond, but “we can handle it,” said Tony Brushett, the assistant executive director at the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre on George Street. “This is a normal, typical winter for us.”
The city subsidizes about 950 permanent shelter spaces at the city-operated family shelters and eight community shelters. It also uses hotels and motels to accommodate families when necessary.
Last month, 172 families per night, on average, were placed in a hotel or motel by the City of Ottawa.
“Ottawa has adequate temporary shelter options so that no one has to be unsheltered at any time,” Shelley VanBuskirk, the director of housing services, said in a statement. “The city is managing within our current emergency shelter resources at this time.”
The rule in Ottawa is that all three downtown men’s shelters must reach capacity — which they have all done every night during the recent cold snap — before any of them can start assigning overflow beds.
Managers from Shepherds of Good Hope, the Booth Centre and the Ottawa Mission check in with each around dinnertime as beds begin to book up for the night. Shelter staff stay in touch throughout the evening and when capacity is reached at all three locations, the overflow space is used, explained Peter Tilley, the Mission’s executive director.
At the Mission, the demand meant putting 20 mats down on the chapel floor to accommodate an influx of people on at least 20 nights last month.
“We make every effort to keep people indoors during times like this,” Tilley said, adding staff encourage clients not to stay outside on especially cold days for longer than 15 minutes.
Shepherds of Good Hope overflow room in Ottawa Thursday Jan 4, 2018.
There’s always a “significant increase in occupancy” during the winter, the Booth Centre’s Brushett said. It can add another 50 beds when necessary, but has not been forced to put mats on the floor of its chapel or lobby to meet additional demand.
Overcapacity at shelters also means longer lines for food and showers, staff who are run off their feet, overcrowded common rooms and increased levels of anxiety among clients. Being homeless is hard enough, especially during the holiday season. Being squished like sardines into a dorm or getting cabin fever because it’s too cold only adds to the stress.
“Christmas is stressful for our clients,” Cox said. “It’s a challenge for our staff every year, and then having the fire and having the cold weather, it’s been a particularly challenging time, on top of the opioid crisis we had in the summer.”
About 20 men, some wearing tuques and parkas, watch television in a room on the Booth Centre’s ground floor.
It’s a myth shelter clients must leave during the day, Brushett said. Many may choose to, but others can hang out in common areas and stay warm.
There are also drop-in day programs available at Centre 454, The Well, St. Luke’s, St. Joe’s, Centre 507, Youth Services Bureau, Operation Come Home and Centre Espoir Sophie.
“We don’t put anybody on the street,” Brushett said.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
It’s 9:30 a.m. on Thursday and five women who slept here the night before are still in bed. Others come and go from the washroom down the hall or head outside for a smoke. The room is so muggy that fans have been brought in to help push the dry air around. An artificial Christmas tree stands watch in the corner.
As many as 20 women have to share this room some nights.
“It’s very crowded,” admitted Caroline Cox, the senior manager of transitional shelter services.
The room became a make-shift dormitory following a Dec. 21 fire that caused significant damage to the 49-bed transitional shelter on the ground floor.
The special facility is normally reserved for housing people when all the other emergency shelters are full. It is also the only option for men and women who have been barred from other shelters, have significant mental health or addiction issues, or have been dropped off by police or paramedics.
Because it’s been closed for two weeks while crews repair the damage, women have been relocated to the boardroom, while men have either gone to other shelters or filled up the Shepherds’ overflow dormitory.
“We’ve been taking any common room we could and putting mats down,” Cox said, adding she hopes the regular space will be up and running soon.
The fire and deep freeze that have gripped the National Capital Region — which prompted Ottawa Public Health to issue a frostbite warning Thursday “until further notice” — have both added wrinkles to an already challenging time of year for homeless shelters.
But unlike Toronto, where an unprecedented demand on the city’s homeless shelter system led to the opening of temporary winter-respite sites, there are no such plans to open additional facilities in Ottawa.
Inside the Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa Thursday Jan 4, 2018.
Night after night, shelters here are stretched to capacity and often beyond, but “we can handle it,” said Tony Brushett, the assistant executive director at the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre on George Street. “This is a normal, typical winter for us.”
The city subsidizes about 950 permanent shelter spaces at the city-operated family shelters and eight community shelters. It also uses hotels and motels to accommodate families when necessary.
Last month, 172 families per night, on average, were placed in a hotel or motel by the City of Ottawa.
“Ottawa has adequate temporary shelter options so that no one has to be unsheltered at any time,” Shelley VanBuskirk, the director of housing services, said in a statement. “The city is managing within our current emergency shelter resources at this time.”
The rule in Ottawa is that all three downtown men’s shelters must reach capacity — which they have all done every night during the recent cold snap — before any of them can start assigning overflow beds.
Managers from Shepherds of Good Hope, the Booth Centre and the Ottawa Mission check in with each around dinnertime as beds begin to book up for the night. Shelter staff stay in touch throughout the evening and when capacity is reached at all three locations, the overflow space is used, explained Peter Tilley, the Mission’s executive director.
At the Mission, the demand meant putting 20 mats down on the chapel floor to accommodate an influx of people on at least 20 nights last month.
“We make every effort to keep people indoors during times like this,” Tilley said, adding staff encourage clients not to stay outside on especially cold days for longer than 15 minutes.
Shepherds of Good Hope overflow room in Ottawa Thursday Jan 4, 2018.
There’s always a “significant increase in occupancy” during the winter, the Booth Centre’s Brushett said. It can add another 50 beds when necessary, but has not been forced to put mats on the floor of its chapel or lobby to meet additional demand.
Overcapacity at shelters also means longer lines for food and showers, staff who are run off their feet, overcrowded common rooms and increased levels of anxiety among clients. Being homeless is hard enough, especially during the holiday season. Being squished like sardines into a dorm or getting cabin fever because it’s too cold only adds to the stress.
“Christmas is stressful for our clients,” Cox said. “It’s a challenge for our staff every year, and then having the fire and having the cold weather, it’s been a particularly challenging time, on top of the opioid crisis we had in the summer.”
About 20 men, some wearing tuques and parkas, watch television in a room on the Booth Centre’s ground floor.
It’s a myth shelter clients must leave during the day, Brushett said. Many may choose to, but others can hang out in common areas and stay warm.
There are also drop-in day programs available at Centre 454, The Well, St. Luke’s, St. Joe’s, Centre 507, Youth Services Bureau, Operation Come Home and Centre Espoir Sophie.
“We don’t put anybody on the street,” Brushett said.
mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78
查看原文...
