Moncton says Humanity Project to run homeless shelter opening Monday

A new homeless shelter in downtown Moncton will be run by the Humanity Project, the city announced Friday afternoon.

The Moncton Lions Community Centre on St. George Street is being converted to offer beds when space isn't available at three other shelters in the city.

The Humanity Project, founded by Charles Burrellalmost a decade ago, offers hot meals to people in need from a building on St. George Street. The building is only steps from the community centre shelter it will operate.

CBC News has requested an interview withBurrell.

The city has previously said the building could accommodate up to 125 beds.

It wasn't clear Friday how many staff will be required to operate it, or whether anyservices will be provided to those using the space.

More details next week

RobertDuguay, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development, said some of the answers were still being sorted out by the shelter operator and more would be known Monday.

Duguay said the building is expected to be open Monday evening.

The shelter in the city-owned building will be funded by the provincial government.

TheMoncton Lions Community Centrehas a largeauditorium, a kitchen, bathrooms and meeting rooms.

It hashostedprograms like fitness and art classes, and was the home of theMoncton Children's Dyslexic Learning Centre.

Organizations that used the building were left scrambling to find alternative locations after the city council decision last month to use the building as a shelter.

The vote followed frontline advocates saying more than 550 people were counted living outside or couch surfing in October and that existing shelter plans for the winter wouldn't be sufficient.

Trevor Goodwin, senior director of outreach services at the YMCA of Greater Moncton, told councillors Nov. 21 that without the city using its buildings to provide extra space, people would die.

Within hours,35-year-old Luke Landrywas found dead in a public washroom outside city hall. Front-line workers had been unable to find him ashelter bed.

Initially, the city said it would announce the shelter operator within days of a council vote to use the space, but the announcement was repeatedly delayed.

After approving the use of the building, city staff revealed earlier this month that it likely wouldn't be open until early January to give time for the then-unnamed operator to get it set up.

The city planned to use large heated tents with cots in the meantime, but Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard said this week that the building would be open by Monday.

The council vote to use the building as a shelter also called for mental health and addictionssupport services to be provided on site.

"We need to ensure that in this shelter there are those prescribing clinicians, people who can meet people where they're at, provide the proper antibiotics if they need them, the proper direction," Mayor Dawn Arnold said on Nov 28.

Duguaysaid Friday that details about services would be known next week. Anysupport services would be provided by the provincial Health Department, he said.

Previous out-of-the-cold shelters in Moncton have been run by non-profits such as theYMCA's ReConnect andthe Salvus Clinic.

In 2018-19, the Humanity Project also ran a shelter in its St. George Street building with volunteers and donations.