Temporary shelters ease Moncton's homeless crunch, organizers say

Up to 90 people are staying at two temporary homeless shelters that opened almost one month ago in Monctonto house people sleeping outside in the city.

The Humanity Project opened a shelter at the end of November with private donations.A second shelter openedDec. 1 at the formerAssumption Boulevard fire station with $136,000 inprovincial and municipal funding.

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"It's had its challenges, but I mean overall it's going well," said Lisa Ryan with YMCA'sReConnectstreet outreach program. The organization is one of two running the Assumption shelter."We're all learning as we go, because we've never run a shelter before."

InSeptember, ReConnect estimated 120 people were living "rough,"some sleeping outside in tents, a figure that helped spur action to boost the city's shelter capacity.

"We do know that there a lot of the folks that we were visiting that are in shelter," Ryan said of people ReConnect previously encountered staying in tents."However, we also know there are quite a few that are still tenting."

ReConnectis still trying to support those people, but said it has been difficult because staff are busy at the temporary shelter that averages 40 to 60 people during the day.That's resulted ina change of shelter hours in the new year.

The shelter will close in the morning so ReConnect staff can continue their work at the Salvation Army on King Street to help people get official documents or file for support programs.

The overnight shelter at the fire station openedDec. 1 with 20 beds. That's grown to 45 beds with30 to 40 people staying overnight.

The Humanity Project, which opened its own overnight shelter Nov. 30,reported housing between 40 and 50people per night. CharlieBurrell,the founder of the Humanity Project, said things are going well andeveryone seems "comfortable and relaxed."

Both locations are meant to be temporary this winter to alleviatethe pressure on existing shelters.

One of the city's main homeless shelters is expanding after a big donation from a church through a Christmas collection from its congregation.

Church donated $106,700

Harvest House Atlantic, a shelter with capacity for 35 people, received$106,700on Sunday from theMonctonWesleyanChurch.

CalMaskery, executive director and founder of the High Street shelter, said the money will allow the shelter to add more than 20 beds through renovations of its building.

It will alsoopen a nine-monthaddictions recovery unit for women with eight to 10 beds. The shelter already runs a recovery program for men.

"They wanted to help us make a long-last change so we'd be able to have more beds this winter and going forward,"Maskerysaid.