Doors open for the winter at Sudbury emergency shelter

As temperatures in Sudbury start to dip below freezing, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Sudbury/Manitoulin is opening the doors of its Off the Street Emergency Shelter for the season.

Off the Street offers sleeping space for up to 30 people, as well as warm food and beverages. The shelter is low-barrier, which means there are minimal requirements for people to use the shelter.

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"When people come to the emergency shelter, it's a last resort," says shelter manager Cindy Rose. "They're likely not able to access any of the other shelters in the community."

Anyone over the age of sixteen can use the service, and unlike other shelters in the city, people under the influence of drugs or alcohol will not be turned away.

The shelter opens Nov. 1, and will be available nightly from 8:30 p.m. to 8 a.m., until April 16, 2018.

Longer hours for shelter this year

CMHA Sudbury/Manitoulin took over operation of the emergency shelter last year, after the City of Greater Sudbury awarded the organization a five-year contract to the run it. The shelter was previously operated by the Salvation Army under the name "Out of the Cold."

"Last year was our first year running the program, and we were so overwhelmed by the community response," says Rose.

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Rose says the organization went in "blind", but they learned a lot during their first season and are looking at ways to improve the service.

"The only people that really know best how to run a shelter is individuals themselves, so we did a lot of polling and surveys to see what type of things they felt needed to be changed," says Rose.

This year, people who stay at the shelter overnight will have access to lockers to store their personal belongings. There will also be increased security and bathrooms will be locked at night, to help people feel safer.

Rose says the shelter will also have longer hours than the previous year, so thatpeople who stay overnight will have a place to wait for other community services that don't open until 8 a.m.

Shelter to be a community hub

And Rose says even more changes are coming in the future.

In May, city council agreed to give CMHA Sudbury/Manitoulin the deed to 200 Larch St., where the shelter is located and the organization is now planning to update the space this spring.

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"The hope is to have some showers, potentially some laundry facilities," says Rose.

"We're gonna have a look at a community hub, where we're going to have an Indigenous healing space, and a space where individuals can come and get all their needs here right in one location."

The Off the Street Emergency Shelteris currently looking for volunteers ordonations of non-perishable food items, toiletries andwarm winter clothing. If you'd like to get involved, you can call the CMHA Sudbury/Manitoulin at 705-675-7252.