IPads offered to New Glasgow homeless shelters

Libraries across the province are closed but ways are being devised to serve some of their community’s most vulnerable people.

“We have a number of tablets that we usually use for training, so we’ve sterilized them and offered them to the clients of Viola’s Place,” said Eric Stackhouse, chief librarian with Pictou Antigonish Regional Library.

The tablets are also being offered at Tearmann House in New Glasgow and through the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association.

Stackhouse said the decision to close libraries did not come easy, but was necessary for public safety.

“We have a very busy environment, and it felt too much of a risk to stay open,” he said. “We agonize over this, even during winter storms, because we know that this is one place that is very important to a lot of the vulnerable population.”

Providing tablets is one way for them to provide service to patrons.

“A lot of people from the shelter depend on our Internet services,” said Stackhouse. “So this way, they still have the opportunity to stay connected and check in with their friends and families.”

Viola’s Place homeless shelter remains open, but the challenges posed by COVID19 are affecting guests and volunteer staff.

“There’s no manual for how to navigate this,” said Tammy MacLaren, board member for Viola’s Place Society. “Social distancing is a luxury that you don’t have when you live in a shelter.”

New Glasgow’s only homeless shelter is still open, but it’s usual complement of about 40 volunteers has dropped significantly in the last week.

“It’s day by day right now. We know we have coverage for tonight and tomorrow night, but again this could be a different story later,” said MacLaren.

She acknowledged the drop in volunteer numbers is understandable, since volunteers may be at higher risk or are caring for family members who are in that category.

Inside the shelter, volunteers are busy updating their cleaning habits, sanitizing surfaces with bleach, providing hand sanitizer and thermometers, while replacing hand towels with paper towels and communal soaps and shampoos with individual bottles.

But supplies are running low, especially hand sanitizer.

“I know that’s something everyone wants right now but if anyone has one or two extra bottles and wants to drop them off, that would be greatly appreciated,” said MacLaren. “Three blocks away at the PARL headquarters, there’s another group of dedicated people who are rolling with the punches”

“Nobody told me I’d be doing anything like this when

I was doing my master’s degree in library studies,” laughed Stackhouse. “It’s a learning curve, but we’re doing OK.”