Temporary Kitchener shelter program ends as warm weather begins

A temporary shelter that housed 50 people on average every night for the past three months is now closed, and regional staff are reviewing its success.

The shelter at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Kitchener was set up in late January to deal with the high number of people seeking emergency shelter in Waterloo region.

• Homeless housed in motels as shelters overflow during cold snap
• Waterloo region gets $3.27M to end chronic homelessness

"This winter, we saw capacity going over again like last winter, but this time it was quite a bit more than we had seen before," said Deb Schlichter, director of housing with the Region of Waterloo.

In December, she said the shelter system, which includes seven shelters throughout the region,was over-capacity by 57 people on average every night.

Temporary shelter something new

Previously, those individuals have been put up in motels, but Schlichter said the region wanted to try something different this year, so they opened the temporary shelter in January.

The next step is for us to learn from that to see what is the need, how do we respond.- John Neufeld, House of Friendship

The shelter at St. Matthews church was operated by House of Friendship, and executive director John Neufeld said itwas full most nights.

"On some nights, we were as high as capacity, which was around 50," he said. "Some nights it was lower than that. It really depended on a number of factors."

Temporary to permanent?

Tuesday night was the last night the shelter was open to clients.

Neufeldsaidthey always planned to shut the shelter down after three months.

"I think what we wanted to do is we wanted to create a temporary solution," he said. "The community came together, we responded to the need, and now I think the next step is for us to learn from that to see what is the need, how do we respond."

Neufeld said it's too early to say whether the temporary shelter will become a permanent solution to the overflow problem that the emergency shelter system is experiencing in Waterloo region.

The region is preparing a report on the St. Matthews shelter, which Deb Schlichter told CBC News should be ready in June.